Electric vehicles to zoom on AP roads

Amaravati: In a major step towards eco-friendly and sustainable public transport system, the AP government is planning to introduce 300 electric vehicles in various cities soon and install five electric vehicle-charging stations in the vicinity of AP Secretariat in Velagapudi in the next 10 days and another 45 charging stations in major cities in the state soon.

The Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs under the Union Ministry of Power, has communicated to the state government that it would supply 300 electric vehicles and the delivery plan would be communicated within two weeks.

Vice chairman and managing director of New & Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP) M Kamalakar Babu told The Hans India that they were planning to supply the e-vehicles to Amaravati, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Tirumala, APEPDCL and APSPDCL.

He said the state government has sent indent for 100 electric vehicles only in the first phase but even then EESL could supply 30 vehicles initially. “We will increase the number of electric vehicles based on demand from government departments,” he said. On other hand, the Energy department is taking steps for the installation of electric vehicle charging stations.

“The Exicom Telesystems Limited has been given letter of award (LoA) on April 19 for the installation of EV charging stations in Amaravati, Vijayawada, Guntur, Tirumala, Tirupati and Visakhapatnam. The charging stations have to be supplied by the Exicom Telesystems within six weeks from the date of sign of agreement,” said a senior official of energy department.

In fact, the state government signed an MoU with the EESL for the supply of 10,000 electric cars and 4,000 chargers to various departments through the NREDCAP during partnership summit in Visakhapatnam in February. “According to the MoU, the EESL has to supply 10,000 electric vehicles to government departments on lease or outright purchase to replace the existing petrol and diesel vehicles within 2 years of period,” sources said.

However, the government reportedly expressed unhappiness with the EESL for its delay in supplying electric vehicles on time. A senior official of Energy department told The Hans India that the EESL promised that utmost priority would be given to Andhra Pradesh. “But now, a representative of EESL said they would supply 30 e-vehicles only in the next week while the rest would be delivered in next one month or 45 days,” he said.

In a review meeting on Monday, the APDISCOMs informed that they would planning to install 5 EV charging stations in the surrounding area of AP Secretariat. Andhra Pradesh wants to emerge as a hub for the electric mobility ecosystem in the country as energy source is cheaper and cleaner.
The driving cost for e-vehicle is Rs 0.89/ km which is Rs 4.40/km for conventional vehicles.

"The government departments need to spend Rs 20,000 per month on each vehicle to pay finance instalments. It will be easier to the departments as they spend around Rs 40,000 per month on each hired vehicle," Kamalakar Babu said.