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Now, electric car owners can drive through the Chennai-Tiruchi-Madurai highway without worries over availability of charging stations. Oil major Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) has set up what it calls ‘India’s first EV fast-charging corridor’ under which it has set up charging stations every 100 km inside its large formal fuel outlets along the highway.
“With 10 charging stations located on both sides along the highway, this is the first chain of EV charging stations set up on the highways in India. We have invested about ₹1 crore in setting up these fast-charging stations,” said PS Ravi, Executive Director In-Charge – Retail, BPCL.
With top-up charging for about 30 minutes, electric cars could get an additional range of 100-150 km.
Other facilities
“The BPCL fuel stations also house food outlets and other state-of-the-art amenities for the people to spend time during the charging time,” Ravi said.
He explained that BPCL fuel stations would offer clean and hygienic washrooms for ladies and gentlemen, safe and secure parking while charging and 24-hour operations, among others. Select fuel stations will also offer nitrogen-filling facilities. These large-format bunks also house food outlets such as McDonald’s, A2B, Cube Stop, Café Coffee Day and other regional players.
More corridors planned
BPCL has chosen to set up its first EV charging corridor on the Chennai-Tiruchi-Madurai highway based on surveys by the government and other agencies. This highway route has one of the highest passenger vehicle traffic movements in the country and also holds huge potential for growth in electric cars.
It has planned to set up EV charging stations at its fuel stations at periodic intervals on all major national highways connecting major cities and economic centres in the country to boost inter-city travel on electric vehicles. The first phase launch on Chennai – Tiruchi – Madurai highway will be followed up by key routes that have high existing motorist traffic and a propensity for the shift to electric vehicles.
Ravi indicated that BPCL would be setting up similar EV charging corridors on the Chennai-Bengaluru expressway and Coimbatore-Salem-Chennai highway in the coming months.
The company has chalked out plans to set up 600 EV charging stations by the end of June this year and 1,200 stations by the end of this fiscal.
The Central government has proposed to make available at least one fast-charging station at every 100 km on both sides of highways in addition to one public charging station every 25 km on both sides of highways.
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