· 30 KW fast charging stations at company’s retail outlets along six highways
· These corridors will remove range anxiety of the electric vehicles owners, driving on long distance
· Fuel Stations offers safe stoppage points for EV charging, along with clean toilets, restaurants, ideal for driving break
· BPCL will convert 200 National Highways by March 31st 2023 into electric corridors
Public sector oil marketing company Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) on Thursday (16 March 2023) announced the launch of fast-charging stations for electric vehicles on six highways in Western India. These six highways are –
Pune-Ahmednagar-Aurangabad – 240 KMs, Pune-Solapur (4 ROs) 250 KMs, Pune- Nashik (4 ROs), 200 KMs, Pune-Kolhapur (3 RO s), 225 KMs
Mumbai- Nashik (3 RO s) 200KMs and
Nashik- Shirdi (3 RO s), 90 KMs
The EV fast chargers at BPCL Fuel Stations recharges EVs in just about 30 minutes giving the driving range of upto 125 kilometers, therefore the distance between the two such facilities at highways have been kept within 100 kilometres. So far, BPCL has converted 6 highways into electric corridors and going forward, by March 2023, 200 highways will be covered with Electric Vehicle Fast Chargers under the brand eDrive which carries the tagline Clean. Fast. Easy, to support and accelerate the EV growth in the country.
Speaking at the launch, Sanjeev Agarwal, Executive Director, Engineering & Automation (Retail) , BPCL said “We at BPCL are constantly striving to align ourselves with the nation’s vision to enhance clean mode of mobility and reduce dependence on the fossil fuels. We are steadily moving towards converting 7000 of our conventional Retail Outlets into Energy Stations which is a part of a comprehensive decarbonization strategy to support and prioritize sustainable initiatives. We are setting up fast charging highway corridors to eliminate the range, discovery and time anxiety form the EV customer travelling on highways. 400 such corridors by next year will cover almost every part of the country.”
