Need to have common platform for ease of EV charging: Mercedes-Benz

Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz India has pitched for a common platform to provide real-time information about all available charging stations operated by different service providers to make it more convenient for electric vehicle owners.

Mercedes-Benz India MD and CEO Santosh Iyer pointed out that the common app would go a long way in enhancing customer convenience and help in pushing electric vehicle adoption in the country.

In an interaction with PTI, Iyer noted that there is a need to democratise charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

"Today, if you buy an electric car, you need 3-4 different apps on your phone. What we are requesting the government is to come up with something like a UPI-based system," Iyer said.

India is a leader in digital technology, but when it comes to charging, there are still multiple apps, he stated.

"They (apps) don't talk to each other...payment gateways are not in sync..if it can be solved the convenience of EVs will be next level," Iyer said.

Citing an example, he said Mercedes customers in Germany and many parts of the world are capable of making payments for a variety of services, including charging, from an app.

"But in India, we are not able to execute fully because we don't have a single charge point operator who can aggregate it. So this is the request we keep saying, make convenience the core of EV ownership," Iyer said.

If the system is made convenient, customers will shift to EVs but if it remains difficult then they might want to stay out of the segment, he said.

Government needs to come up with a platform and then all aggregators need to be there, he said.

"Lets have at least one platform for payment and charging stuff," Iyer said. Last year, there were reports about the central government preparing a master App to help customers locate closest charging stations on a map.

Citing the example of the recently launched PM E-Drive Scheme, he noted that the government continues to support the EV segment very strongly. Iyer said EV sales last year accounted for around 2.5 per cent of the company's overall sales.

The contribution of EVs has risen to 5 per cent of the overall sales this year, he added.

"That's the ray of hope that you keep seeing that..acceptance is increasing..now we have six car lines..it's a competitive market also, because there is a very small set of customers who are shifting(towards EV)," Iyer said.

Mercedes-Benz India sells six battery electric vehicles. It rolls out two models --EQS SUV 580 4MATIC and EQS sedan, from its Pune-based manufacturing plant.