Plans two more at BKC and on the Western Express Highway at Borivali

Mumbai: After having installed Mumbai’s first Electric Vehicle (EV) charging station in Vikhroli, Tata Power is looking to expand the access to such charging points across the city to ensure a smoother ride for electric car users.

The company has set up additional charging stations at the Palladium Mall Lower at Parel and Phoenix Marketcity in Kurla and plans to put in place two more stations at Bandra-Kurla Comples and the Western Express Highway at Borivali to cover strategically located areas where EV users wish to have outlets.

With the central government encouraging a shift to electric vehicles by 2030, Tata Power's aim is to build a seamless network of electric charging stations to make it easier for people to adopt EVs and be future ready, the company said in a statement. The rationale for setting up of smart charging infrastructure at the parking areas of malls is to enable users to make the best use of their time while their car charges.

The company is offering EV charging free of cost at Vikhroli station, while it is yet to finalise a tariff structure for charging at malls.

The newly installed chargers at Palladium and Phoenix Marketcity will enable electric car users to charge their cars (Battery Electric Vehicles such as the Mahindra e2o, Nissan Leaf, etc) at any time safely and conveniently. Electric vehicle users can also monitor the car battery charging status and units consumed while charging a car.

“We want to promote the adoption of EVs and are committed to building strategically located charging infra to facilitate this. There are two types of smart charger models being used at our charging stations — a regular charger (AC model) and the fast charger (DC model). The regular charger takes around 6-7 hours to charge a car from zero battery charge, whereas fast charger takes around one and a half hour,” a Tata Power spokesperson told The Hindu.

The company plans to set up charging stations at various locations in Mumbai and is in discussions with various stakeholders to this end, it said.

“We are proud and happy to present Mumbai with additional electric vehicle charging stations that cover the expanse of the city. We are also happy that one of these EV charging stations is India’s first Electrical Vehicle Charging station at popular retail mall,” said Anil Sardana, CEO & MD, Tata Power.