Tamil Nadu-based electric charging infrastructure company Zeon Charging has confirmed plans to invest Rs 250 crore in setting up EV charger infrastructure in the State. 

An MoU to that effect was signed recently in the presence of Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M K Stalin at the Tamil Nadu Investment Conclave 2021 in Coimbatore. Early this year, Zeon opened its  first 50 kW DC fast charging station on the Bangalore-Salem-Coimbatore- Kochi highway at Sankagiri in Salem.

Speaking to Autocar Professional, Karthikeyan, Managing Director,  Zeon Charging, said, “This investment which is over a period of five years is especially for setting up chargers in Tamil Nadu. We have identified locations and will add these chargers at 70-100 locations within the next two years. Beyond that, over the next five years we will have 300 locations across the State. This will be both in the city and on highways.”

Currently, Zeon Charging is setting up 50 kW DC fast chargers. Going forward, it will add similar solutions to existing locations along with more powerful chargers. “We will go for powerful 100-150 kW chargers. Even though 50 kW is sufficient for the electric cars in the Indian market, we are adding this for the future. Cars like Audi e-tron and Mercedes-Benz EQC can take higher power chargers. Soon, this will also be the case with other lower priced electric cars,” he added.  

Karthikeyan also pointed out that on highways and prominent places where there is a larger requirement for chargers there will be Class A charging stations. Here around eight cars can be charged simultaneously. Such Class A stations will have at least one 150 kW charger, two 120 kW and two 50 kW chargers. “We are looking at places that can be upgraded to Class A. Krishnagiri and Sankagiri are being considered to be upgraded first.  Our soon-to-be-launched EV charging station at Ulundurpet can also be upgraded to Class A within the next two years,” he mentioned.

Thus far, the Tiruppur-based charging solution company has chargers at over 20 locations across three Southern states. New locations like Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Thirumangalam, Vadipatti, Dindigul, Thoppur, Madurai and Trichy are next in line. At present, Zeon charges Rs 19.50 per unit. This means to charge a Tata Nexon EV from 0 to 100 percent will cost approximately Rs 600 albeit few EV owners charge from zero.

“On a good day, we are have 2-3 vehicles charged per station. This needs to improve and more EVs need to come in the market,” Karthikeyan signs off.