Public charging stations in Chennai power up EV

The Hindu

26-04-2025

Two years ago when Kiruba Joy brought home a new electric car, he did not anticipate objection from the residents association to having the machine charged from his individual meter. The 300-unit apartment community in Porur had only two EV users then. The association would go on to invest in a common charging point, which did not impress Kiruba as he found the rates to be on the higher side.
'We shifted from our own flat to a rented accommodation in Kolathur to be able to have EV charging at home as well as to enrol my daughter in a nearby school,' says Kiruba.
Kiruba would have loved to make use of a public charging station, but he found none within a five kilometre radius.
In the last six months, the EV landscape in Chennai has improved, EV charging infrastructure keeping pace with people's openness to travelling electric.
A changing landscape
Greater Chennai Corporation has started work on identifying locations for public EV charging stations across its 15 zones. Private players are parking EV charging stations near crowd-pulling establishments like malls and cafes.
'Currently, our preference is in establishing two-and-three wheeler charging points as many electric vehicles in these categories have hit the roads in the recent months, and the charging point for such vehicles is not yet universal,' says Sriram J, senior manager, charging infrastructure at Bolt.Earth.
The company has 97 public charging stations in Chennai and is in the process of establishing 10 more.
'The recent fleet of Pink Autos and load vehicles launched by the State Government are electric, so the charging infrastructure has to keep pace with the demand,' says Sriram.
Plugzmart, a Chennai-based EV charger manufacturer for high-power charging, has 25 charging stations on the highways to help long-distance travellers.
The Union Government has also asked power distribution companies to set up common charging stations every 25 km along national highways.
According to Bureau of Energy Efficiency, as on April 1 2025, Tamil Nadu has 1,524 public charging stations installed over the last five years, with Chennai accounting for 218 (tier 2 cities have 459 and tier 3 has 847). Karnataka and Maharashatra are way ahead of Tamil Nadu.
EV users note that besides addressing charging infrastructure gaps in public places, signages have to be put up to improve the visibility of charging stations.
Vignesh N. works as a delivery partner and commutes for more than 100 km on his e-bike from his home in Ambattur Industrial Estate to Parrys as part of his work. He says the city needs not just more charging stations but the existing ones need to be better maintained and be made user-friendly. 'You reach a charging point to realise it's not working or there are a queue of people waiting for their turn or the filter option in the app is such that it directs you to a gated community where you are not allowed,' says Vignesh.
Exclusive charging points for gated communities is also in the wish list.
Ragavendra Ravichandran, co-founder and COO, Plugzmart, says the focus is more on getting developers of new projects on board than persuading an existing apartment community to invest in an EV station. 'Having an EV charging infrastructure is now an essential selling point for developers,' he says.
Some real estate players have been opening up these unmanned charging stations for those beyond their community. Ragavendra cites the example of SKCL Prime in Guindy where employees working in the IT park as well as those from the public can avail the charging facility inside the campus.
Wiring in
Among the challenges faced by private EV players is finding a good location where electricity load is good.
'EV vehicles need good wiring. In many cases, the wiring component is not suitable and the cost of setting up the wiring runs into lakhs of rupees. The 'load fixed deposit' that has to be paid to the government is also high,' says Sriram.
The process of engaging with the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board is also time-consuming. 'We are seeing a lot of improvement on the ground. Now we have an EV cell where concerns raised by us are being looked into. TNEB has also asked its senior staff to give preference to EV users,' says Sriram adding that a meeting of charge point operators was held on April 24.
Green mobility gets a boost at gated community
In gated communities, getting a 'resounding yes' for a community initiative that involves investment and space is always difficult, more so when it would be seen as serving only a small (even if growing) segment.
Considering this challenge, e-vehicle lovers at Brentwood (one of the 13 towers at the House of Hiranandani in Egattur) are excited about what they have achieved.
In June 2024, with money routed through Brentwood Owners Association, they got themselves an EV charging station, one with four charging points for two-wheelers and two for four-wheelers, set up by Bolt.Earth. The station is open to vehicles of residents from other towers inside House of Hiranandani and the support staff as well. On an average, every day, 15 residents make use of the facility.
'Since the charging infrastructure came up, we see new cars have been bought by residents. People switching to EV seeing the establishment of a charging facility in-house is good news for EV industry and green mobility,' says Kartik Sankar, committee member, Hiranandani Brentwood Owners Association.
Vehicles are allotted space depending on first-come-first-serve basis. The demand spikes at night.
Currently, the EV charging station is open to residents of all towers in the community. However, with the growing number of EV owners in Brentwood, the facility will soon be restricted exclusively for the use of Brentwood residents.
The community is open to sharing insights for those keen on establishing an EV charging station in theirs.