Panasonic to Set Up 1-Lakh-Strong Charging Grid to Power Electric Vehicles in India

NEW DELHI: Japanese electronics giant Panasonic is lining up a mega electric vehicles charging grid across top 25 Indian cities, looking to set up one lakh charging stations and telematic solutions by 2024 to power over a million vehicles.

The company – one of the key partner (battery cell supplier) for American electric vehicles maker Tesla — plans to set up mini charging facilities at parking stations, malls, petrol pumps, and specially-developed zones across cities such as Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Amravati, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Noida, and Ghaziabad.

“We feel that the clean energy and electric vehicles space is going to see a massive growth in the coming years, and Panasonic wants to be ready with a matching infrastructure to power the new-generation, cleaner vehicles,” Manish Sharma, president & CEO of Panasonic India, told TOI here.

Through the network, Panasonic aims to reach individual electric vehicle users, fleet owners, e-commerce and logistics companies to manage their fleet more efficiently. Most of the expansion will be through the franchisee model while Panasonic will control the core network and technologies.

Also, the telematics solution – that has been developed at the company’s India R&D facilities – will be pitched to utility providers as well as the manufacturers of vehicles, equipment and lithium-ion battery to help them better understand user patterns, and calibrate their products and services accordingly.

The infrastructure will initially be used to power electric two- and three-wheelers, though the company has plans to extend this to other vehicles types as cleaner mobility gains traction across different automotive segments.

“The service comes equipped with telematics sensors on the vehicles, allowing users to generate real-time data and report from continuous operation, thus enabling them to use their fleet in the most efficient way,” Sharma said.

The cognitive systems will help fleet managers in monitoring and managing the entire vehicle line-up such as finding out the efficiency of different lithium-ion battery packs, avoiding unnecessary charge trips due to lack of charging and real-time data, monitoring of vehicle data usage etc.

“The cloud and app service also allows EV and fleet owners to easily search and navigate the nearest charging point, thus reducing logistical challenges,” the Panasonic India MD said.

Sharma, however, did not answer questions on whether the company plans to set up a lithium-ion battery cell plant in India.

Source: ToI

Image Courtesy: ETAuto