It seems owners of electric vehicles (EVs) are fast realising the difference between slow-paced charging at homes and fast-paced facility at public charging stations to charge their vehicles. According to the data, Chandigarh has witnessed a sharp uptake in the usage of public EV charging stations. From 19 charging sessions in June 2024, it increased to 1,879 in December 2024. In the first nine months after the charging stations started to operate across the city, EVs were plugged in around 7,157 times.

The sharpest increase is in the usage of battery swapping stations (BSSs), where from zero BSS units being swapped in June 2024, the number touched 20,959 in December 2024. In the first nine months, more than 65,000 units were swapped.

Financially, the public charging stations earned a revenue of INR 10.78 lakh, and it consistently increased from June last year.

"There is an upsurge in the number of charging sessions and battery swapping consistently. But if compared to the total number of e-vehicles in the city, then the usage remains very low. In the last three years, more than 15,000 e-vehicles were registered in the city. Most EV owners are only now realising the difference between slow charging in their homes and the fast-charging facility available at the public charging stations. People are also realising the BSS and the ease with which the batteries can be replaced at these stations," said an official.

The number of charging stations also increased since June last year when only eight locations in the city had charging stations. By December, the number increased to 20. In January this year, another six were being operationalised. The most used charging station is located in Sector 44D market.

The Chandigarh EV Policy 2022 envisaged setting up 100 charging stations across UT by covering at least one charging station in every parking area. But recently, the administration decided to limit the number to around 30. The installation of charging stations by CREST began in January last year, following location clearance from the Chandigarh municipal corporation.