NEW DELHI: Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated 140 public Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points and 48 battery swapping stations at 56 locations in the capital.
While addressing the event Kejriwal said, “EVs are the future. While driving a petrol scooter costs approximately ₹1.75 per kilometer, an EV scooter’s cost is merely seven paise per km. Similarly, a petrol car costs ₹7 per km, whereas an EV car only costs 36 paise per kilometer.”
He further added, “It shows the substantial savings that EV owners can enjoy while contributing to a greener and cleaner Delhi. In the last three years, Delhi has gone on to become the ‘EV capital of India.’ The national average in terms of new vehicles registered includes six per cent of EVs, whereas it is 13 per cent in Delhi.”
The CM stated, “We have been successful in developing schools, hospitals, universities, electricity, etc since we have come to power in Delhi. But there was only one place, which was difficult and was not seeing any improvement – pollution…”
He claimed that the pollution levels of PM 2.5 and 10 have decreased by 30 per cent as compared to 2014. The “severe” pollution category days also decreased in the city, he said.
Currently, there are 4,646 charging points, along with 250 battery–swapping stations in Delhi.