The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has approved an indigenously developed AC and DC combined charging connector standard for light electric vehicles (LEVs) such as scooters, bikes, and rickshaws.
Key points
- Electric vehicle (EV) charging connector standards are conceptually similar to charging connector standards for mobile phones, such as the USB Type-C charger or Apple’s lightning charger.
- The new standard, ISI7017 (Part 2 / Sec 7): 2023 has been developed through collaboration among NITI Aayog, the Department of Science and Technology, electric two-wheeler maker Ather Energy, and various other government and industry stakeholders.
- The indigenously developed charging standard is the first in the world that combines alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) for LEVs.
- Combined AC and DC charging standards for electric four-wheelers are already in use around the world, like the Combined Charging System (CCS) standard that is widely used in Europe.
- A combined charging standard is attractive because of its interoperability — which means that it can be used by different kinds of EV models and charging infrastructure providers.
- In India, EV makers are not mandated to follow a specific standard for charging connectors. Electric two-wheeler makers use different charging standards for their EVs.
- Although the new approved standard fixes the problem of different standards for AC and DC charging by creating a combined standard, it does not mandate EV makers to use a uniform standard that can help address range anxiety and promote faster adoption of EVs.
