Tata Motors, Tata Power to install 300 charging stations in 5 cities

Tata Power and Tata Motors on Friday forged a partnership to install 300 fast charging stations by the end of this financial year in five key cities — Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. The move will help in accelerating faster adoption to electric vehicles (EVs) in a market where an almost non-existent charging infrastructure has been one of the biggest deterrents. 

The companies on Friday inaugurated seven charging stations in Pune. Ramesh Subramanyam, CFO and president (new businesses) of Tata Power, said they would now set up 50 such points across the metros. “The next round of expansion will depend on the way overall EV sales pan out.”

The partnership will complement Tata Motors’ plans to add to EV line-up. Through its e-Tigor, it has been catering to government staff through the ESSL order it bagged and some fleet customers, said Shailesh Chandra, president, electric mobility business and corporate strategy at Tata Motors.  The firm plans to bring more products focused on personal buyers this financial year. In the works is a full electric car, which may have its genesis from the existing products or a future one.

Tata Motors also plans to launch another variant of the e-Tigor with a higher range. The upcoming charging points will be able to fully charge a Tigor within 70-90 minutes. The future chargers will be different for the new models that Tata Motors brings. 

The Tata Power-operated chargers will comply with Bharat Standard (15 kW) for the initial 50 chargers. Going forward, it will also have charging stations that will adhere to 30-50 kW DC CCS2 Standard. These chargers can be accessed by any electric vehicle user, having cars compatible to the above charging standards.  Tata Motors EV owners will get the attractive charging tariff developed jointly by Tata Power and Tata Motors. 

The partnership is an important milestone in our journey to offer complete ecosystem solutions and offer peace of mind to our customers, Guenter Butschek, CEO & MD of Tata Motors, said in a statement. 

In his address to the shareholders at Tata Motors annual general meeting earlier this week, Chairman N Chandrasekaran said the company had “recalibrated its ambitions higher” in the EV space after the recent announcements by the government to boost demand. As part of the plan, it is looking to launch multiple new EV models in the foreseeable future.