BPCL to invest Rs 200 cr to set up fast charging infrastructure

Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) has said that it will put up fast charging facilities at 200 major highway corridors across the country by the end of current financial year (FY23).

A senior executive informed Autocar Professional that a capex of about Rs 200 crore has been allocated for the purpose and which will be utilised to fund 2000 EV charging stations. 

This development follows the successful trial along the Chennai - Trichy - Madurai highway with the rollout of DC 25KW fast chargers at 10 fuel stations along the 900 km route on both sides of the highway. 

Arun Kumar Singh, CMD, BPCL offered details of the plan during a post AGM media briefing. Singh said that range anxiety remains a major concern for the EV owners and his company is trying to address the issue with the setting up of fast charging stations at a distance of every 100 kilometers along the major highway corridors.

“We are ahead of time,” said Singh, referring to the creation of more charging infrastructure even as demand for electric cars is still to pick up. 

The company claims that the fast charger technology that it will set up will be suitable for all voltage packs for four-wheelers on CCS-2 charging protocol. Delta Electronics India and Servo Tech India have been roped in as technology partners for the project These EV charging stations will be located within BPCL's retail outlets on the highway corridor.

The chargers can be self-operated by customers using BPCL's unified mobile application called HelloBPCL, which it claims will give a seamless experience for the customers. 

BPCL, the second largest OMC has a nationwide network of fuel stations is aiming at reaching the count of 7,000 stations to support the growing EV industry. These stations would be known as ‘Energy Stations’.

As part of its e-mobility plans, BPCL has entered into a number of strategic alliances in the past one year in order to support its EV strategy.

For instance, Hero Motocorp — one of the country's largest two-wheeler manufacturers and BPCL in February this year announced the setting up of a ‘large scale EV charging infrastructure.’ in the country. 

Dr Pawan Munjal, chairman and CEO, Hero MotoCorp said, “This collaboration will also unlock opportunities for asset allocation and expansion in the future.”

EV charging plans
In the first phase, charging stations will be set up across nine cities starting with Delhi and Bangalore. The network will be then expanded with the aim to establish a high density of charging stations.

Each charging station will feature multiple charging points including DC and AC chargers and will be available for use to all electric two-wheelers, both the companies said in a statement.

Likewise, BPCL also lined up with Ola Electric for setting up of its hyperchargers at some strategically located fuel stations. The company has a similar arrangement with MG Motors also. Further, BPCL in collaboration with Pune-based Kinetic Green Energy & Power Solutions and IIT-Madras is developing an EVbattery swapping model  EV mobility system for electric three-wheelers.