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Do you own an electric car or a two-wheeler? Here’s a piece of good news: You can charge your e-vehicle while parking it at Metro stations across the country. Why, you can even swap batteries, if the plans of Power Grid Corporation go as planned.
PowerGrid is building the country’s first electric vehicle charging infrastructure at a Metro station in Hyderabad. Each of the charging station costs about ₹25 lakh.
“After Hyderabad, we are in talks to launch similar facilities at Chennai and Delhi Metros,” said S Victor P Selvakumar, General Manager (Smart Grid), PowerGrid.
While it takes about 45 minutes to charge a car battery, it will take three hours to charge an e-scooter.
PowerGrid signed an agreement with L&T Metro and Hyderabad Metro Rail to set up the charging infrastructure at the stations.
The first of charging port infrastructure will come up at Miyapur.
The first phase of the Metro covering 30 km out of the 72-km opened a few months ago.
Though the cost for charging has not been decided, HMR Managing Director N V S Reddy hinted that the cost of charging a battery will be about half of what petrol or diesel costs.
The three organisations are also planning to introduce a service where autoriskshaw drivers can swap their electric batteries with charged ones.
Metro connectivity ideas
Meanwhile, Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) has roped in WRI India Ross Center for sustainable cities and HMR to launch the Station Access and Mobility Programme (STAMP).
The challenge calls for entries from start-ups that can provide creative solutions to improve the ‘first and last mile’ connectivity to and from Metro stations.
Top three business solutions will get a financial assistance of $50,000 to turn these ideas into workable solutions. Entries can be submitted in the next one month.
“The idea is to improve accessibility to the metro and increase its usage through data-based research and multi-stakeholder partnership,” TMF Chief Operating Officer Shin Aoyama said here after announcing the challenge.
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