[ A ]

Times of India ( 02 July ) carries following news :

Soon , car charge stns every 35 km on Nagpur highway

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/soon-car-charge-stations-every-35-km-on-nagpur-highway/articleshow/64820731.cms

SALIENT POINTS :

* MSEDCL plans to set up 50 e-charging stations , one every 35 km along the 820 km

Mumbai Nagpur route ( on the existing route )

* When Mumbai Nagpur Super Highway comes up , we could have a station every

25 km , said an official

* AC Chargers take 5 – 6 hours to charge ( electric car battery ) and is economical

* DC Chargers take 30 – 45 minutes to charge but is costly

* A Mahindra e20 takes 7 hours to charge from zero to full at a slow point and 1.5 hours

at a fast point .

* A fully charged car can go up to 120 km

* An MSEDCL official said :

“ The Mumbai Nagpur highway ( existing ) handles 30,000 to 40,000 passenger cars

DAILY and hence, setting up charging stations there would be viable for us. We only

need to set up DC charging points that are faster and this will reduce infrastructure

costs “

[ B ]

WHAT ABOUT CHARGING COST ?

( Source : http://www.pluginindia.com/ev---faq.html )

For example, the Mahindra Verito gives a mileage of 15 km / litre .

At Rs 75 per liter of Petrol, the car would need 4 litres to cover 60 kms for a total cost of Rs 300 for the trip.

The Mahindra e2o would need 10 units of power for a full charge of 100 km. At Rs 4 a unit that would be Rs 40.

So there you go, a person driving an EV spends less that Rs 30 to cover 60kms while a gas powered car would really drill a hole in the wallet. On the other hand, if you install Solar Panels, you can run your car on the power of the sun for free.

[ C ]

IMPLICATIONS ON EXISTING HIGHWAY :

# FOR AN ELECTRIC CAR

Mumbai Nagpur ( existing ) highway is 820 km long

With a “ range “ of 120 km , an electric car would need to recharge 8 times ( to be on the safer side )

So total charging cost could be Rs 320 ( Rs 40 / charge * 8 charges )

Not bad at all

But what about the “ time to travel “ , using an electric car ?

* Charging time > 40 hours ( 8 halts @ 5 hours / charge for that economical AC

charging )

* Running time > 12 hours ( if the average speed of the car is 70 km per hour )

* Lunch –Dinner > 8 hours

* Sleeping Time > NIL ( just take a nap while battery is charging ! )

* Total > 60 hours

# FOR A PETROL CAR

Installing Battery Charging Stations along the existing highway , won’t make any difference to the Petrol cars

[ D ]

IMPLICATIONS ON PLANNED SUPER HIGHWAY :

# FOR AN ELECTRIC CAR

Now the planned Mumbai Nagpur Super Highway is going to be 705 km

So it will take one LESS halt for charging ( ie only 7 halts , thereby saving 5 hours )

So you will be on the road for ( say ) 55 hours instead of 60 hours

But , you will need to pay a toll of Rs 2.5 per km ( total of Rs 1762 / - )

So , for an electric car , the cost will be as follows :

* Toll Cost = Rs 1762

* Charging Cost = Rs 280 ( 40*7 )

* Total Cost = Rs 2042

Now, even if the cost is “ bearable “ , who would want to sit behind wheel for 55 hours ?

# FOR A PETROL CAR

Time can be close to :

* For driving………………. 10 hours ( @ 70 km per hour )

* Filling Petrol……………. 0.2 hours ( for one halt )

* Lunch break……………. 1.0 hours

* Total time…………………10.5 hours [ manageable ]

But when it comes to cost , things look down !

* Petrol Cost………………… Rs 4,900 /- [ @ Rs 70 / litre and car giving 10 km per litre ]

* Toll Charges…………….. Rs 1,762

* Total Cost……………………Rs 6,662 / - [ Unbearable ? ]

[ E ]

Observations :

* On the existing highway, no one will want to drive an Electric Car for 60 hours !

* Setting up those battery charging stations will be a total waste of scarce funds

Will those 30,000 / 40,000 Petrol Cars which are currently plying on EXISTING highway ( 820 km ) , switch over to SUPER HIGHWAY ( 705 km ) , so that driving time gets reduced from 12 hours to 10.5 hours ?

Against saving in Petrol cost ( 820 km vs 705 km / say , Rs 750 / - ) , they would have to fork out Rs 1,762 by way of TOLL charges !

I seriously doubt !

[ F ]

CAN THIS SITUATION CHANGE IN FUTURE ?