Electric Car Charging Facility in India:Â There is a steady increase in the demand for electric cars in India. Many big car manufacturers are launching electric vehicles in the country. Tata Motors has already brought its electric car to the market. At the same time, Maruti Suzuki is preparing to bring the first EV. Even Tesla wants to launch electric cars in the Indian market. But the biggest question that arises before electric car buyers is how to charge their electric car? Can an electric car be charged only at a power station or is there an option to charge it at home? And if the electric car is charged at home, how much will it cost to charge it? Let us answer all these questions.
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How will the electric car be charged?
Electric cars can be charged anywhere, be it home, public station or office. Many companies in India are also emphasizing on increasing public stations for charging electric cars. These methods can be adopted to charge electric cars.
How to charge at home
Type-1 AC chargers can be used to charge electric cars at home, which can be connected to a standard AC socket. Apart from this, you can also get a wall box installed in your home from your EV manufacturer. Type-2 chargers can also be used for fast charging of electric cars. In this way, electric car owners can charge their EVs at home.
Charging facility at public station
Charging electric cars at public stations such as cinemas or supermarkets is also going to be a common practice. Most public charging stations have a charging capacity of 7kW, which gives a driving range of 30 to 50 kmph for battery EVs. At some electric car charging stations, the car can be charged by directly plugging in. At some stations, you must have a cable for charging the electric car. Also, you may have to install an app on your phone for charging.
Charging in office or any work place
Charging an electric car in the office is just like charging an EV at home. Usually, Type-2 sockets are used to charge EVs at workplaces, where you can charge the vehicle using your car’s charging cable. Many companies also provide charging facility for electric cars by swiping a card or downloading an application on the phone.
charging cost of electric cars
The cost of charging electric cars depends on the battery range of the EV. Most electric cars in India come in the range of 20 to 40 kWh. If you charge the EV at home, then the cost of charging it will be according to the price of electricity in the state. The price of electricity in the states is Rs 8 to Rs 10 per unit. If you charge the car at public stations in Delhi, then the average cost can be Rs 4 per kWh. At the same time, this rate can vary between Rs 2 to Rs 9 across the country.
In this way, charging an electric car at home can cost between Rs 180 and Rs 500. At a public station, you can charge your EV for Rs 100 to Rs 200. Apart from this, the cost of charging the vehicle also depends on the car model, battery size and speed of the charging point. It can take about 1 hour to charge an electric car up to 80 percent. This time can also be reduced with the facility of fast charging.
Things to keep in mind while charging an electric car
Attention is required while doing any work related to electricity. Similarly, it is important to be careful while charging an electric car. Here know the things which are important to pay attention to while charging electric vehicles.
- While charging an electric car, pay attention to the battery of the car. Sometimes such batteries are installed in cars which catch fire easily. For this, keep your EV charger away from such objects which can cause fire.
- While charging the electric car, try to use the charging cable of the same car. Avoid using any other charger as much as possible.
- Put the electric vehicle on charging after about an hour of use. In this time, the battery of the electric vehicle will cool down comfortably.
- Keep the charging cable of the EV car in a ventilated and dry place. Also, do not forget to remove the charging cable from the car after charging it.
- There is a risk of the battery of an electric car getting damaged by charging it frequently. Therefore, whenever you go on a long distance journey, charge it fully.
