Delhi: Govts allows residents to charge electric vehicles free of cost at noon from June 1

 Delhiites having an electric vehicle will now have a reason to rejoice as from June onwards they will be able to charge their EVs free of cost between 12 noon and 3 pm at over 40 public charging stations across the national capital.

The initiative has been taken to promote the use of electric vehicles and also to incentivise EV charging at public stations.

As per a report by news agency PTI, the initiative of free afternoon charge to EV users is being taken up by an EV charging startup ElectriVa, which has set up over 40 public charging stations in partnership with the three civic bodies.

Authorities told news agency PTI that the free charging will be provided at around 35 charging stations operational along the ring road at locations including South Extension, Bikaji Cama Place, Defence Colony, Lajpat Nagar, Mayur Vihar, Netaji Subhash Place, South Campus, Nelson Mandela Road, Hauz Khas, Green Park, Greater Kailash, Punjabi Bagh, Rohini, Saket, Shalimar Bagh, Preet Vihar among others.

During the morning and evening hours, the rates for EV charging for per unit charge is kept at around Rs 10. “We will provide charging to all commercial and noncommercial EV users for free between 12 noon and 3 PM. By providing free charging during afternoon hours, we want to bolster the EV ecosystem in the national capital. Presently it is important to incentivise public charging to make people switch from fossil fuel to electric vehicles,” Sumit Dhanuka, Founder, ElectriVa told PTI.

Giving details, he added that the ElectriVa will set up a charging station every three kilometres in Delhi and locations have already been allotted by the three civic bodies.

As per updates, nearly 10,707 electric vehicles were registered in 2022 so far between January and March 14 and out of this 5,888 were e-two wheelers (e-bike and e-scooter), data showed.