Governor approves 23 EV charging stations seven months after launch
From the sources that the first 23 public charging stations were discovered to be inoperable several months after they were inaugurated, and at a time when the UT administration is urging people to purchase electric vehicles (EVs), Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator Banwarilal Purohit gave the go-ahead to make all of them operational.
Purohit, who visited the UT Secretariat on Monday, gave officials a final nod on the terms and conditions to be adopted to make the charging points operational. “ The governor today gave us the go-ahead and the same will be informed to the agency that has installed it. We are expecting that now these charging stations shall be operational within two weeks,” a senior official of the UT administration said.
While a fully charged electric two-wheeler can travel up to 50 kilometers, a mid-sized electric car can travel up to 200 kilometers. A commuter driving from Derabassi or Ambala to Chandigarh for work may arrive in his or her EV, but returning will be difficult due to the lack of public charging stations nearby.
Despite the Chandigarh administration pressuring people to buy EVs by ordering a ban on a certain number of fuel-powered vehicles each year, it has failed to provide the basic infrastructure, namely public charging stations, and has abandoned the mobile app that was supposed to be developed.
The UT had promised to build 100 public charging stations, with the first 23 installed in 37 locations in November 2022, but no operations have yet occurred.
In the absence of infrastructure, those who own electric vehicles are currently charging them at private charging stations or at home.
EV owners charging at home will be charged domestic rates, while those charging at public stations will be charged Rs 8 per unit for slow or medium charging, Rs 10 per unit for fast charging, and Rs 11 per unit for battery swapping.
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