Mumbai’s first public EV charging station inaugurated

The station has a capacity to charge 72 vehicles in a day, with a 2 DC Fast charger, which can charge four vehicles at a time, and three slow chargers that can charge three vehicles at a time.

A month after the Maharashtra government rolled out its new Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy, state Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday inaugurated an EV charging station at Kohinoor building parking lot in Dadar West. It is the first public parking lot (PPL) in the city to get an EV charging station.

The station has a capacity to charge 72 vehicles in a day, with a 2 DC Fast charger, which can charge four vehicles at a time, and three slow chargers that can charge three vehicles at a time. The DC fast charger is industrial-grade equipment, which can completely charge a vehicle in 1-1.5 hours, whereas the domestic-grade AC charger or slow charger takes six to seven hours to do the same job.

Thackeray said similar charging stations would be set up at various places in Mumbai soon. “Environment-friendly electric vehicles are the need of the hour and charging facilities should be made available at various public parking lots in the BMC area. A study/survey should be conducted and charging stations should be made available in more and more public parking lots,” said Thackeray at the inauguration event.

  According to the plan by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), two parking spaces each will get Public Electric Vehicles Charging Stations (PEVCs) across 29 civic-run public parking lots in the city.

On July 13, Thackeray introduced the Maharashtra Electric Vehicles Policy under which the state government seeks to encourage the use of battery-operated vehicles to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. To transition to electric vehicles, the state has also provided exemption in road tax, registration charges, and property tax.Electric cars have been shown to reduce 50 to 60 per cent of CO2 emissions, which is a key to tackle global warming.

BMC said that Rs 15 will be levied for a unit of charging. It takes around 20-30 units to fully charge a vehicle, giving a driving range of 140-170 km. The charging facility will be available 24×7, said the civic body.Besides, BMC on Tuesday launched a mobile application— otopark— for booking parking places online. Citizens can book a parking spot on a monthly basis, or make reservations an hour in advance. “The application will save citizens from being penalised by sending notifications when they park in a ‘No Parking’ area and will guide them to the nearest available parking,” said the civic body.