The Ministry of Power (MoP) has recently issued updated guidelines for the installation and operation of Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Infrastructure. These guidelines aim to support the growing requirements of EVs with integrated batteries while establishing standards for battery swapping and battery charging companies and service providers.

The notification on EV charging integrates elements from previous battery-swapping guidelines while introducing new clauses for enhanced clarity and regulation. It states: “Clauses 5, 6 (except sub-clause 1), 7, 9, 11, sub-clause 5 of clause 12, 13 (except sub-clause 2), and 20 of the principal guidelines titled ‘Guidelines for Installation and Operation of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure — 2024,’ will also apply to Battery Charging Stations, Battery Swapping Stations, and Battery Providers.”

Addressing the need for battery-swapping solutions , the notification emphasized: “The government’s latest notification aims to bring an alternative method of powering electric vehicles through swappable batteries. These batteries can be charged separately at dedicated battery charging stations.”

It further elaborated: “Battery swapping is a method of quickly replacing an EV’s fully or partially discharged battery with a charged one.” The guidelines aim to promote the adoption of battery swapping and encourage the development of a robust battery-swapping ecosystem by supporting battery-as-a-service models.

To streamline operations on EV Charging and battery swapping, the guidelines mandate that owners of Battery Swapping Stations (BSS) or Battery Charging Stations (BCS) may utilize existing electricity connections. The notification states: “Owners of BCS or BSS shall be permitted to use an existing electricity connection with or without seeking an increase in the connected load, for charging the swappable batteries.”