Magenta Power, announced India’s first EV charging Corridor- ChargeIn at Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
This network of EV charging stations will initially be deployed at Hotel Center Point, Mumbai-Pune Expressway, Lonavala. In the next phase the network will then be extended to Bangalore and Mysore allowing electric vehicle users to travel across this stretch in their EV without having to worry about their next charging station.
Magenta Power last month installed India’s first Solar based EV charging station in Navi Mumbai too. ChargeIn will be a fully integrated network of charging points including AC and DC chargers. All the ChargeIn points will be connected via network for central monitoring and control.
Initially some of the charging station will have a fully automated payment system so that users can charge the vehicles using an online OTP based payment system via the ChargeIn app. This payment system will be deployed to all the charging stations in a phased manner.
ChargeIn will be an open platform for all EV charging stations; existing owners of charging stations will have the option to join the ChargeIn network and support this growing community.
On the sidelines of the announcement, Maxson Lewis, the CEO and Managing Director of Magenta Power, mentioned that ChargeIn plans to encompass charging stations for 2 wheelers, 3 wheelers, 4 wheelers and bus fleets. He believes that while this network of charging stations will open up the ‘electric highways’ in India, it will also provide a unique employment opportunity for charging station owners who can man and
support the stations. He also mentioned that Magenta understands the challenges with setting up and operating EV charging stations in India given the local context and issues and is prepared with technological and ground level solutions.
While Magenta is setting up the network, this is an asset intensive business and the company is in talks with potential investors to support their growth plans.
All in all, this initiative by a young company will help the Auto giants like Mahindra, Tata and others to get more of their vehicles on the Indian road.