Exicom CEO: India Needs 25,000 More EV Fast Chargers in Three Years

India will need to add about 25,000 electric vehicle fast chargers over the next three years, according to the chief executive of Exicom, the Delhi-based power electronics and EV charging firm. The estimate, reported by The Economic Times on Wednesday, points to a gap between the country's growing EV fleet and the public charging network meant to serve it.

The figure covers fast chargers, the higher-powered units that can top up a vehicle in a fraction of the time a standard AC point takes. Exicom makes both charging hardware and the power systems that sit behind it, and has supplied equipment to charge point operators across India.

Why the number matters

India's EV sales have climbed steadily across two-, three- and four-wheelers, but public charging has lagged. Most charging still happens at home or at the office for owners who have a dedicated parking spot. For everyone else, a fast charger on a highway or a busy city corner is the difference between buying an electric car and walking away.

The CEO's estimate puts a number on that shortfall. Twenty-five thousand chargers in three years works out to roughly 8,300 a year, or about 23 a day. That is a steep build-out for a market where land, grid connections and capital have all slowed projects in the past.

What stands in the way

Setting up a fast charger is not just a matter of buying the box. Operators have to secure a site, get a sanctioned load from the local discom, and often wait months for a connection. Utilization is another worry. A charger that sits idle earns nothing, and many early installations ran well below the traffic needed to pay back the investment.

• Land and site permissions in dense urban areas
• Grid connections and sanctioned load from distribution companies
• Low utilization at many existing public chargers
• Upfront capital for hardware and civil work

Policy has moved to help. The government's PM E-DRIVE scheme set aside money for charging infrastructure, and several states offer capital subsidies or discounted electricity tariffs for charge point operators. Whether those incentives are enough to hit a 25,000-unit target is the open question.

The hardware side

Exicom's own business depends on that build-out. The company has expanded its charging portfolio and exports to markets in Southeast Asia and Europe. A domestic fast-charging push would give it and other Indian manufacturers a larger home market, though competition from Chinese and European suppliers remains stiff on price and reliability.

The CEO's projection lands as automakers ramp up electric launches in the passenger vehicle segment. More models at lower prices would raise charging demand. Fewer launches, or a slower shift among fleet operators, would leave new chargers underused.

For now the arithmetic is simple. India has a few thousand public fast chargers. The CEO says it needs roughly 25,000 more within three years. The gap between those two numbers is the work ahead.