EVs strategies and infrastructure planning for the city

Abstract

The transport sector is transforming globally with an increase in electric vehicle adoption which aims to mitigate the environmental implication of conventional vehicles and improve their energy efficiency. Electric mobility has become more important than ever with the increase in pollution and global warming, having an adverse impact on the quality of life. At COP26 in Glasgow, India committed to reducing carbon intensity emissions by 45 percent below “2005 levels by 2030, reducing total projected carbon emissions by one billion tons from now to 2030”, & 50 % of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030. The government is making a strong push in the transportation sector to implement an electric vehicle (EV) policy, with the aim of replacing all conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles with EVs in order to meet its ambitious national Carbon Emissions target. This transformation will have a huge implication in terms of climate change mitigation and reduce the huge financial burden from energy imports. This strategy aims to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and promote sustainable transportation. By integrating renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, into the urban infrastructure, cities can power electric vehicles and charging stations while reducing their environmental impact. The charging infrastructure of an electric vehicle ecosystem is often called 'the backbone of electric mobility'. The research focuses on framing a strategy for the deployment of charging infrastructure, Policy Framework, and Charging Location in Ahmedabad (AUDA area) through various scenarios and compares the results achieved for these scenarios. Since it is important to cater to the needs of all types of vehicle segments of the Indian market, a city-level strategy for public charging infrastructure has been formulated. This study has further suggested many fiscal and regulatory policies that can help in accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles across all modes. This study mainly focused on exploring physical infrastructure requirements for EVs and their implementation challenges. The research aims to study successful practices around the world and review India's national and state EVs (electric vehicles) Infrastructure policy. The study suggests that despite several policies, and schemes, India till now has struggled to adopt electric vehicles due to a disintegrated policy framework, and poor infrastructure. While there are many ways to determine the spatial locations for placing charging stations, most methodologies require big data that is usually collected through technical probes such as GPS, IOT, etc. for better accuracy. With the limited availability of data and time, the aim was to develop a toolkit that can work on a logical arithmetic principle based on certain assumptions and understand the dynamics of the results in correlation with other important factors such as population density, land use analysis, proximity to amenities, travel patterns, parking availability, open space, major transit centers and corridors, and existing charging infrastructure and distribution grid power supply system (micro level and macro level Analysis), etc. Lastly, this research paper aims to propose a strategy for the deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) and the necessary charging infrastructure in Ahmedabad