CONRAD DIAS
Ranchi, Feb 26: With the rise in fuel prices, commuters are slowly but steadily moving to Electric Vehicles (EVs) as it is more of an affordable form of transport. However, many EV owners in the city are facing challenges as there are very limited number of charging stations in and around Ranchi.
According to Phase -II of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme by the central government, around 29 new charging stations were installed across the city on July 6, 2021 out of which only 4-5 stations are currently in use.
Talking about the drawbacks, an EV owner from Ranchi says that his mini SUV is a perfect commuter for the city but it becomes almost impossible to take the car for long journeys. “We have to plan our long journeys on our EV as there are no charging stations on the highway. For city driving, it is a good vehicle but lack of charging stations sometimes put us in a panic situation.”
Robin Singh, an official from Tata Motors Ranchi explained that It takes around 1-2 hours to fully charge an EV using the fast charger at a charging station whereas the charging time goes up to 8-10 hours while charging it through a normal 15 amp power outlet. “At the moment we have one fast charging station which is located at our Kokar service center. We will be setting up more charging stations in the near future,” he added.
According to the recent development, the government is planning to install at least one fast charging station every 50 kilometers within the state in the coming years.
Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi, an environmentalist from Ranchi has suggested that every petrol pump in the city must have at least one Fast Charger. “Just like how we have counters for pollution certificates in every petrol pump, similarly every fuel station must have a fast charger. At present, the infrastructure for EVs is in a developing stage,” he quoted.
He further added that EV is the future and with the current rise in the price of fuels it is the best time for people to move to EVs.
Image credit: Electric vehicles.in
