The Delhi government has introduced an easily accessible database feature for EV charging and battery-swapping stations on its Switch Delhi portal. It aims to attract every electric vehicle manufacturer onto a unified platform.
Presently, Delhi has more than 2,500 charging outlets. Authorities claim the database would allow easy accessibility to all EV companies. The manufacturers can then create platforms offering seamless information for battery-swapping and charging stations to all Delhi EV consumers.
Expanding Outlets and Stations
With the launch of the open database for EV charging, Delhi is taking a step toward solving the main issue facing EV users, range anxiety. In 2021, the Delhi government came up with an open database for bus transit, which was a big success and is being used by Google, Uber, and many more.
Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot stated that the launch would allow customers to find more than 2,500 charging outlets and battery-swapping stations around Delhi. They expect the number to reach 18,000 by 2025.
Delhi Electric Vehicles Policy
On August 7, 2020, the city government issued the Delhi Electric Vehicles (EV) policy. The policy’s clause 6.4.2 stipulates that the Transport Department, GNCTD, shall create an open, publicly-owned database providing factual and real-time data on public charging infrastructure.
Following the policy’s directive of the above stipulation, the transport department has implemented an open, publicly-owned database.
According to the officials, registered businesses and individuals can use the database to submit and retrieve current and previous history data about public charging and swapping infrastructure through the portal.
Charging service providers can access information related to all EV chargers and battery-swapping stations. They can do so in dynamic and static formats after registering and then requesting on the open database portal.
A personal API key will be instantly shared when the individual requests access to dynamic data. According to the officials, the request will be approved or denied within 48 hours after submission.
The Delhi EV policy mandates that all enterprises running public or semi-public EV charging or swapping stations must contribute data to the open database within three weeks after the order announcement.
In-vehicle navigation systems, charging apps, and maps can avail the database for free.
