Even as the district is witnessing a boom in the sale of electric vehicles, a proportionate increase in the number of easily accessible charging points is yet to be a reality. Owners of electric vehicles in the city suburbs and rural areas say there is a lack of convenient charging points during long-distance journeys.
“We are heavily dependent on pole-mounted charging points of the Kerala State Electricity Board [KSEB], which are still in limited numbers. The promise to set up fuel-station-model e-vehicle charging stations is yet to be a reality in our district,” says Punathil Rajeev, an e-autorickshaw driver from Puthuppadi. He says the number of e-vehicle buyers will double if the number of charging points are increased along rural roads.
The poor visibility of many pole-mounted charging points also continues to be an issue. Only very few mobile applications are currently in use to support the proper navigation of about 26 mapped charging points in the district. Of this, about 15 are located in the urban area. Many of the wayside charging points are rarely used by motorists due to poor visibility.
E.K. Saju, driver of an electric taxi vehicle, says signboards indicating the presence of charging points are yet to be a reality in the district. “Such boards are an immediate requirement as the number of long-distance e-vehicle drivers are on the increase and they may be in trouble in the absence of such boards in public places,” he adds.
Leaders of auto drivers’ unions also point out that the number of public charging points will have to be increased in keeping with the increasing number of e-taxi vehicles. According to them, the launch of more e-vehicles with attractive offers is prompting several conventional taxi operators to make the switch.
Often, the unavailability of affordable land is claimed to be one of the reasons for the delay in opening such stations that can be accessed by multiple vehicles simultaneously. KSEB officials say the process of empanelling agencies for setting up charging stations is still progressing in the State apart from deploying nodal officers for the eMobility app developed by the board for easy payments. They say equal consideration was given to all Assembly constituencies and corporation areas while setting up charging points in the first phase of works.
