Tata Power and HPCL to jointly provide EV charging solutions

When the Indian government was drawing plans for a big shift to electric vehicles (EV), the biggest challenge was not about costs or efficiency. It was about EV charging infrastructure. For a rapid spread of EV as a green motor strategy, the biggest challenge is making charging infrastructure easily and readily available for electrical vehicles. It is precisely in this area that Tata Power and Hindustan Petroleum will now collaborate. 

Tata Power currently owns a network of over 500 public charging stations spread across 100 cities. But that is too small to support a massive thrust on EVs. To bridge that gap. Tata Power will provide end-to-end EV charging stations at HPCL retail outlets spread across major cities and on key highways. This tie-up will enable Tata Power to set up its EZ charge solutions across HPCL outlets, which number more than 18,000 on an all-India basis. 

Read: Maharashtra EV policy

The success of the EV shift will depend on a number of factors that are external to the EV business. For example, robust charging infrastructure, ease of use, quick access from home and office are all important ingredients of scripting an EV success story in India. Tata Power is a pioneer in the charging space and caters to all segments of the EV ecosystem including public charging, captive charging, home/workplace charging and ultra-rapid charging for buses.

The tie-up will help Tata Power to quickly scale up its charging infrastructure riding on the HPCL network. For HPCL, the move positions the company as a facilitator of quality services to a savvier automobile customer base. It is hoped, that it will also favourably impact the valuations of HPCL and Tata power.