Charging at home a setback for EV infra investors

Here is some good news for those who plan to buy e-cars but are worried about not finding a place to charge. In a big push to the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), the Indian government has just allowed individuals as well as entities to set up public charging stations without a licence. 

Also, EV owners can now charge their e-vehicles from their homes or offices. Even two years ago, EV buyers were worried about not being able to charge their cars.
 

Then, many companies came forward with huge investment plans lined up and even a slew of start-ups wanted to jump on to the bandwagon to give a fillip to the EV charging ecosystem. 

EV charging station

Some of the names are ABB India and Siemens. The EV charging infra market could touch $100 billion, growing at a compound annual growth rate of over 25 per cent till 2028. 

Now, with the charging ecosystem suddenly going micro, it could soon be like charging a mobile phone or you could have a micro EV charging set up. 

One day, you may see the EV charging infrastructure reduce from a full-sized garage to just a space at your home or even your office. And, even the charging time will fall drastically from the current average of over 10 hours for e-cars. 

Even as micro charging facility could benefit EV owners, start-ups or small garages, the government’s move may not be good news for those setting aside big budgets to grow the charging point infrastructure. 

This may happen five years down the line. These big firms must gear up to offer a whole gamut of EV services to stay alive. At the same time, the Centre is likely to offer government land to government or private agencies to set up EV charging points. 

The government is doing this to promote clean fuel and meet the commitment it made during the recent climate conclave COP26 in Glasgow, where it committed to reduce carbon footprint. 

All nations vowed to reduce carbon footprint by promoting renewable or non-polluting energy in order to put a lid on global warming. In the last one year itself, we have seen the effects of climate change — devastating floods in India, China, Europe, the US and many other regions in the world. 

So, considering the rapid pace with which the government is moving, it seems electric vehicle adoption could almost be neck and neck with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in the next three years or so. 

In the next five years, EV sales could surpass petrol or diesel cars in the wake of a complete EV ecosystem being put in place on a war footing. 

This will eliminate the charging range fears of EV owners. And, it will make prospective electric vehicle buyers also smile as prices of EVs could reduce drastically.

So, investors who put in money into EV infra could be hit if charging can be done from the convenience of our homes. 

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