The Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) would soon offer battery charging facilities for electric vehicles at all its stations, beginning with Miyapur in about a fortnight.
It would be one of its kind, Managing Director N.V.S Reddy said after Power Grid Corporation of India signed an MoU to establish and operate the charging infrastructure. HMR and L&TMRHL were the other signatories to the MoU, signed at a programme organised by WRI India, Toyota Mobility Foundation and others here on Saturday.
“We are starting with Miyapur, will keep scaling it up to all stations. It will take about 45 minutes to charge a car and three hours to charge a scooter,” he said.
Half the cost
EV charging cost would be half of petrol and diesel, he said, even as Power Grid officials said pricing details were being worked out. The cost would be per unit consumed, an official said, adding cars typically would be able to charge up to 80% in 45 minutes.
One charge would last 70 km to 80 km, Mr. Reddy added.
The charging infrastructure would be provided at parking lots of the station, he said, adding there were also proposals to launch a battery swapping model for auto-rickshaws, under which the vehicles would get fully charged batteries in lieu of one that runs out of charge.
The HMR also plans to implement smart parking solutions, one to minimise human interface and facilitate payments using an app. It would be finalising the ‘smart parking partner’ firm in a fortnight.
With the charging infrastructure in place, more people are likely to switch to EVs. Parking facilities are available at all the stations and more than half the area is lying vacant, Mr. Reddy replied to a query.
Power Grid’s general manager (smart grid) S. Victor P. Selvakumar said Hyderabad would be the first city where metro stations would have battery charging facilities. The Corporation is in discussion with Chennai and Delhi Metro Rail authorities to provide the same facilities.
EV policy
He estimated the cost of each charging station to be around ₹25 lakh. Earlier, IT and Industries Secretary Jayesh Ranjan told the gathering that Telangana government’s ‘comprehensive’ EV policy would be launched on June 29.
The State government would push for more usage of EVs.
