India sees first single-app for EV charging stations
EV Plugs, an app for electric vehicle charging stations, has gone live and claims to be India’s first independent aggregator app. So far, there are more than 1,000 verified listings, according to the company, and EV Plugs is available on both iOS and android besides being web-based.
According to Manish Narang, co-founder and EV Plugs CEO, the 1,000 charging stations cover more than 60 cities in India. The company names networks by Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), Tata Power, Statiq, Ather, and ReVolt as charging stations listed in the app.
Based in Delhi, EV Plugs says it will update the list in real-time. The single-app approach follows similar advances in Europe, where Zap-Map or PlugSurfing among many others list charging stations installed by partners. However, these services also offer payment and billing through one app; a feature EV Plugs has yet to enable.
The Indian company has, however, plans to help drivers reserve slots at charging stations and to provide tips on what to do while they wait for the EV to charge. We think this may hint at revenue streams from featured posts or localised ads, but EV Plugs has not mentioned it in today’s statement. The company set up by three founders earlier this year has also not disclosed funding sources.
Another peculiarity of the Indian market is that electric mobility will likely include thousands of light electric vehicles, i.e. trikes and bikes. Note that EV Plugs partner EESL in August published a tender calling for bids to procure 100,000 electric two- and three-wheelers.
Commenting on the situation, Narang said that he expects the market to be flooded with EVs across categories (2-wheeler, 4-wheeler, 3-wheeler, and HMVs) and by default EV charging stations. Moreover, he adds that he expects it to be “multiple decades” before EV charging infrastructure will reach a coverage comparable to gas stations in India.
EV Plugs already includes corresponding scenarios in the app when it asks users after signing up to specify which type of EV charger they are looking for – car or bike. Other options include selecting the brand and vehicle requiring a charging station. Once the app has been given GPS access, it shows all the nearby EV charging stations and helps navigate to one through the EV Plugs app directly.
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