We introduced the Electric Vehicle Policy in August 2020. Our target was that by 2025, at least 25 per cent of all the new vehicles bought in Delhi should be EVs. As of now, 13 per cent of all the new vehicles that are bought in Delhi are EVs. The national average at the moment is 6 per cent. In pure numbers, from August 2020 until now, 1.28 lakh EVs have been purchased in Delhi,” he said
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said the cost of using electric vehicles in Delhi is the minimum across the country, while stressing that the city has become the nation’s ”EV capital”.
Kejriwal inaugurated 42 new ultra-low-cost EV charging stations at an event at GTB Nagar.
The chief minister said with the addition of these 42 facilities, Delhi now has a total of 53 ultra-low-cost EV charging stations.
With an increase in the number of EVs in the national capital in the recent years, air pollution has also been on the decline, he pointed out.
”Data shows that compared to 2014, the levels of PM2.5 and PM10 are lower by 30 per cent. Earlier in the year, we had several days where the AQI (Air Quality Index) was in the severe category. These were days with very high pollution levels. But now, there are hardly any such day,” Kejriwal said.
He said besides curbing air pollution, the EV policy was formulated by the city government as the ”future belongs to electric vehicles”.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader noted that in the last three years, Delhi has gone on to become the ”EV capital of India”.
”We introduced the Electric Vehicle Policy in August 2020. Our target was that by 2025, at least 25 per cent of all the new vehicles bought in Delhi should be EVs. As of now, 13 per cent of all the new vehicles that are bought in Delhi are EVs. The national average at the moment is 6 per cent. In pure numbers, from August 2020 until now, 1.28 lakh EVs have been purchased in Delhi,” he said.
It is because of the progress made by the AAP government in this direction that Delhi is now referred to as the ”EV capital of India”, he said, adding that the maximum number of EVs in the country are bought in the city.
Highlighting a report of the Niti Aayog that has urged other states to take a cue from Delhi, the chief minister said the national capital’s EV policy is now being considered among the best in the world.
”There are four key elements of this policy that have made it so successful. The first element is the subsidy provided by the government. Electric vehicles are a little more costly as compared to other vehicles and therefore, we provide a subsidy on these vehicles. The second aspect is electric charging stations. The Delhi government has established a network of charging stations across the city,” he said.
The third aspect is the rate or cost per unit. It costs seven paise per kilometre to run an EV scooter in Delhi. It costs Rs 1.75 per kilometre if a scooter runs on petrol, Kejriwal pointed out.
When it comes to three-wheelers, a CNG vehicle costs Rs 2.6 per kilometre, but an EV three-wheeler costs 9 paise or Rs 0.09 per kilometre. In the case of a four-wheeler, a car running on petrol costs Rs 7 per kilometre, but an EV costs Rs 0.36 per kilometre, the chief minister said.
He said it is heartening to see the people of Delhi coming out actively and supporting the government’s EV policy.
Asserting that the maximum number of EV charging stations in the country are in Delhi, Kejriwal said the city has one-third of the total number of electric charging stations in India. There are 4,646 charging points and 250 battery-swapping stations in Delhi.
”If we look at the electric consumption of all the EVs across the country, as much as 55 per cent of it takes place in Delhi alone. This means that more than half of the electric vehicles running across the country run in and around Delhi,” he added.