Delhi govt launches open database facility for EV charging, battery-swapping stations

PTI, Sep 14, 2022, 11:49 AM IST

Representative Image (credit: iStock)

New Delhi: The Delhi government has launched an open database facility for EV charging and battery-swapping stations on its Switch Delhi portal to bring all the electric vehicle players on a single platform.

The database will enable open access to more than 2,500 charging points in Delhi, as on date, to all EV players who can further develop platforms to provide seamless information about charging and battery-swapping stations to all EV users in Delhi, officials said.

“In 2021, the Delhi government came up with an open database for bus transit, which was a big success. The same is being used by Google, Uber and many more. With the launch of the open database for EV charging, Delhi is making a move towards solving the biggest problem of EV users, which is range anxiety.

“It will enable them to use their favourite apps to locate more than 2,500 charging points and battery-swapping stations across Delhi and the number is expected to reach 18,000 by 2025,” Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said.

The city government had notified the Delhi Electric Vehicles (EV) policy on August 7, 2020. Clause 6.4.2 of the policy states: “An open, publicly-owned database shall be developed by Transport Department, GNCTD, offering historical and real-time information on public charging infrastructure….”

In line with the mandate of the policy, the transport department has now put in place an open, publicly-owned database.

The database can be accessed by the registered entities and individuals for submission and retrieval of historical and real-time information pertaining to public charging and swapping infrastructure through the ev.delhi.gov.in/openev portal, the officials said.

After registration on the open database portal, the charging service providers will be able to access the data related to all EV chargers and battery-swapping stations both in static and dynamic formats by submitting a request through the portal.

For accessing dynamic data, a private API key will be instantly shared when the request is submitted. A decision on authorising the request will be provided within 48 hours of submitting the request, the officials said.

According to the mandate of the Delhi EV policy, all entities operating public and/or semi-public EV charging or swapping stations will be required to submit data to the open database within three weeks of the notification of the order.

The database can be used for free by the in-vehicle navigation systems and charging apps and maps.