The scale of public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations hold the key to mass adoption of EVs in India and across the globe.
In India, public EV charging stations are being setup in the metro cities and the advancement of the charging stations into Tier 2/3 cities, national/state highways is still nascent.
So EVs in the immediate future is likely to be an urban phenomena.
This post would serve as a beginner’s guide to:
- Types of EV charging and connectors in India
- Bharat EV charger specifications for AC and DC public chargers in India
- EV charging stations in Bengaluru
1) Types of EV charging and connectors in India:
Electric vehicles (cars, motorcycles, scooters, 3-wheeler) support the following types of chargers:
– AC (stands for Alternating Current) Chargers
– DC (stands for Direct Current) Chargers
AC chargers:
AC chargers utilize the AC current to charge the batteries of the EV.
This is used for overnight/full charging at home, work/offices, hotels etc
Why AC chargers are termed Slow ?
EV batteries need DC for recharge, hence the AC input into the EV would be converted to DC by an “on-board charger” in the vehicle.
Most electric 2-wheeler, 3-wheeler and 4-wheeler vehicles in India do not have an on-board charger beyond 2.5 kW or 3 kW (This is likely to save or minimize costs in vehicle)
In Europe/US, EVs have on board chargers with higher power ratings (for example Tesla have a 16 KW on-board charger)
Types of AC connectors:
| AC Connector Type | Features |
| Type 1 | 5 pins No locking mechanism Single phase power only |
| Type 2 (the most common connector found on Indian cars) | 7 pins In-built locking mechanism Supports single + three-phase power |
DC Chargers:
Typically used for rapid charging. DC rapid charging stations will have cables with both a CHAdeMO and CCS connector attached and you will simply have to choose which fits to your vehicle socket.
To protect the battery, DC chargers do not consistently charge at their typical power rating.
Types of DC connectors:
| DC connector type | Features |
| CHAdeMO | Original DC connector Most common for India public charge points |
| CCS-2 (Combined Charging System) | Supports high power (>50kW) |
2) Bharat EV charger specifications for AC and DC public chargers in India:
To standardise the public EV charging infrastructure in India, the Govt of India has set forth the below specifications for public EV charging stations:
- Bharat EV AC charger (BEVC-AC001)
- Max power output: 3.3kw
- Output/Vehicle connector type: IEC 60309 Industrial Blue connectors
- Bharat EV DC charger (BEVC-DC001)
- DC Slow charging:
- Max power output: 15 kW power or a 2-wheeler vehicle charging at 48V with maximum power of 3.3 kW.
- Output connector type: Type 2
- DC fast charging:
- CCS 2, up to 50kW
- CHAdeMO, up to 50kW or better
- DC Slow charging:
3) EV charging stations in Bengaluru:
Currently there are 4 companies that have setup public charging systems in Bengaluru:
- BESCOM EV Charging stations: The most wide-spread network of public charging stations in Bengaluru.
- Paid charging via ElectreeFi app
- Charger type: AC + DC
- Timings: 24 hours and all days of the week
- Location: Multiple charging stations located in different parts of Bengaluru city
- How they work:
- Locate the nearest station using Google
- Check for the type of connectors available (also displayed on Google)
- Scan QR code at the charging station to download the app and make the payment
- Supported vehicles: 2, 3, 4-wheeler
- Kirana Charzer: A private startup in Bengaluru – they sell charging units that can be installed at the house, shop, apartment etc. The building owner gets a monthly rental revenue from the charging unit (based on usage)
- Paid charging via Charzer app
- Charger Type: AC only
- Timings: restricted to hours of operation of the establishment (shop/hotel/apartment etc)
- Location: Multiple charging stations located in different parts of Bengaluru city
- How they work:
- locate the nearest station with Charzer app
- Check for the type of connectors available on the Charzer app
- Make the payment via the app
- Supported vehicles: best suited for 2-wheeler (AC charging of cars will take longer)
- TATA Power EZ: The only major car maker in India to setup these EV charging stations – currently they are very less in number
- Paid charging
- Charger Type: AC + DC
- Timings: restricted to hours of operation of the establishment (cafe/shop/hotel etc)
- Location: Multiple charging stations located in different parts of Bengaluru city
- How they work:
- Locate the nearest station with the Tata Power EZ app
- Check for the type of connectors available on the Tata Power EZ app
- Book and make the payment via the app
- Supported vehicles: 2, 3, 4-wheeler (supports non Tata vehicles too)
- Ather Energy Grid: One of the early bird to setup an EV charging network in the cities (Bengaluru, Chennai and Pune). Ather Grid is live only in Bengaluru.
- Free for Ather and other 2-wheeler
- Charger Type: AC only
- Timings: restricted to hours of operation of the establishment (cafe/shop/hotel/malls etc)
- Location: Multiple charging stations located in different parts of Bengaluru city
- How they work:
- locate the nearest station
- Check for the type of connectors on google
- Scan QR code at the charging station
- Supported vehicles: 2-wheeler only
Charging Electric bicycles in Bengaluru:
Most of the electric bicycles can be charged with a single-phase/three-phase 3-pin point (used for regular electric appliances).
Hence any of the above public charging stations can help with that.
Happy EVing 🙂
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