Pune: Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) will set up eight additional EV charging points on the 94.5km Pune-Mumbai expressway.“Presently, there are five spots on the expressway where there are EV charging stations. We plan to install eight more. A study on this has been initiated, and we should be able to identify these locations soon. With more EV charging stations, vehicles will be able to operate with ease,” a senior MSRDC official told TOI. He said another study on the number of EVs operating on the highway was being conducted. “Presently, we do not have any records regarding this. However, with tolls for EVs now exempted, we need to know the average numbers. We expect that the new charging points should start coming up by the end of this year,” the official said.With the expressway recording an average daily movement of 1.40 lakh vehicles, commuters said more EV charging stations were needed. The state govt had recently announced that e-vehicles (EVs) won’t have to pay toll tax on Pune-Mumbai expressway.In addition to the expressway, toll tax has also been exempted for EVs on Samruddhi Mahamarg and Atal Setu.Commuters said travelling long distances in the state with EVs was daunting. Though the state govt had floated EV policy in April this year, not much had been done to improve infrastructure facilities for these vehicles, they said.Prakash Khadekar, a resident of Shivajinagar who owns an electric car, said that he never drove on the expressway with it. “I bought this car two years ago but have not gone on long trips with it until now. There is a serious infrastructure problem regarding EVs in Maharashtra. The main problem is lack of charging stations. There are charging stations that are non-operational due to technical reasons. While it is commendable that MSRDC is coming up with more charging stations, this should have been done much earlier, and the state govt needs to ensure that charging points on all highways are well maintained,” the working professional said.As per figures available on Vahan portal of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Maharashtra has a total of 558,543 registered EVs. However, while 155,073 EVs were registered across the state in 2024, only 24,619 vehicles have been been registered this year till Aug 23. A total of 96,018 EVs are registered with Pune RTO. Last year, it registered 22,946 EVs. This year, a meagre 3,137 EVs have been registered with Pune RTO so far till Aug 23. A total of 52,541 vehicles are registered with Pimpri Chinchwad RTO. Last year, it registered 10,899 EVs against just 1,397 EVs till Aug 23 this year.“Ideally, every petrol pump in rural and urban areas needs to have an operational EV charging point. This has not happened until now, and even in Pune city, one cannot find an EV charging station easily. On the expressway, many times major traffic jams occur, and vehicles get stuck for hours. The state govt, which has said that they aim at 30% EV adoption by 2030, needs to identify the loopholes and fix them first,” Suhas Kulkarni, a business executive and DP Road resident, said.
