The government needs to create a platform and then all the aggregators should be there, he said.
Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz India has proposed 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.
Santosh Iyer, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India, said the common app would go a long way in improving customer convenience and help boost the adoption of electric vehicles in the country.
In an interaction with PTI, Iyer said there is a need to democratise charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
“Today, if you buy an electric car, you need three or four different apps on your phone. What we are asking the government to do 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 applications, he said.
“Apps are not communicating with each other… payment gateways are not in sync… if this can be resolved, the convenience of EVs will reach the next level,” Iyer said.
Citing an example, he said Mercedes customers in Germany and many parts of the world can make payments for a variety of services, including charging, from an app.
“But in India we can’t do it in full because we don’t have a single charging point operator that can aggregate them. So this is the call we’re constantly asking for – to make convenience the core element of EV ownership,” Iyer said.
If the system becomes convenient, customers will switch to electric vehicles, but if it remains difficult, they may want to stay out of that segment, he said.
The government needs to create a platform and then all the aggregators should be there, he said.
“Let’s have at least one platform for payments and recharges,” Iyer said. Last year, there were reports of the central government preparing a master app to help customers locate the nearest recharge stations on a map.
Citing the recent PM E-Drive Scheme as an example, he said the government continues to strongly support the electric vehicle segment. Iyer said EV sales last year accounted for around 2.5 per cent of the company’s total sales.
The contribution of electric vehicles has increased to 5 percent of total sales this year, he added.
“That’s the ray of hope that we keep seeing… uptake is increasing… we now have six car lines… it’s also a competitive market, because there is a very small group of customers who are switching (to EVs),” Iyer said.
Mercedes-Benz India is selling six battery-electric vehicles. It is launching two models – the EQS 580 4MATIC SUV and the EQS sedan – from its Pune-based manufacturing plant.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: September 22, 2024 | 12:00 pm IS
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