Yogesh Gole
Aurangabad, July 30: In keeping with the goals of recently declared Electric Vehicles (EVs) policy of the state government, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is planning to reserve 25 per cent of parking space for electric vehicles (EV) with provision of charging facilities at its 21 amenities points along the 701-Km Mumbai-Nagpur expressway, said MSRDC joint managing director Chandrakant Pulkundwar.
As reported earlier, the policy calls for making Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway (e-way), Mumbai-Pune, Mumbai-Nashik and Nashik-Pune highways fully EV ready by 2025 and envisages setting up of public charging stations on highways at 25 kms distance on both sides catering to charging requirements of long-haul passengers and freight vehicles like e-buses and electric trucks.
When asked about steps the MSRDC was initiating for fulfilling these requirements on Samruddhi Mahamarg which passes through Aurangabad and Jalna districts, Pulkundwar said, “We are planning to lease for 60 years 6 to 8 hectares of land at 21 amenities points along the expressways to developers. Apart from facilities like food plaza, retail stores, car parking, truck terminus, and washrooms, charging stations will also be developed. Parking lots with capacity for parking 75 to 300 vehicles (including regular fossil fuel vehicles) will be built. The original e-way plan had provisions for reserving 5 per cent of the parking capacity for EVs with charging facility but now we will enhance it to 25 per cent.”
Pulkundwar maintained that currently, no EVs are running on the highways. Basically, their movement is within the cities. However, by the year 2025, increasing number of EVs are expected on the roads and charging facility will be developed in keeping with the rising number.
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MoU with Vidyut Vyapar Nigam
The MSRDC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVN) for developing charging stations on the Samruddhi Mahamarg. “The NVVN will decide technical specifications and infrastructure details. There will be fees for charging like we pay money for fuel at petrol pumps,’’ JMC Pulkundwar said.
EVs are future, charging infra needed: Bagla
Former Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture (CMIA) president Rishi Bagla welcomed the decision to develop infrastructure for charging. “The future is of EVs only. A charging station basically needs an electric connection, transformer, socket and cable to transfer power to vehicles. The billing software, which will record the amount of electricity transferred and money to be charged is an important part. It takes less time to charge an EV upto 80 per cent of capacity but more for charging it 100 per cent. A perfect eco-system like necessary software, hardware and protection system for equipment from rain is needed,’’ Bagla said.
Broad definitions
Slow charging: Is generally used in homes, multidwelling units, and fleet charging locations where the vehicles have plenty of time to charge. It generally takes 5-8 hours to fully charge the vehicle.
DC fast charging uses an AC/DC inverter, bypassing grid power, with charge “injected” directly into the battery. DC Level 1 supplies a maximum of 80kW at 50-1000vDC and DC Level 2 supplies a maximum of 400kW at 50-1000vDC.