Tata Motors has announced the rollout of Tata.ev Mega Charger network for high-speed electric vehicle charging. Currently, the network is being established in partnership with four charging point operators (CPOs): Tata Power, Zeon, Charge Zone and Statiq, and the company says it will have 500 such outlets operational within the next 12 months.
Each Mega Charger location will be able to deliver a combined 120kW via a single four-gun charger or two 60kW two-gun chargers. Tata Motors says the network is open to electric vehicles from all brands, but Tata EVs would get priority access and up to 25 percent lower tariff.
Mega Chargers will have amenities like restrooms and restaurants and, in select locations, round-the-clock manned support, too. Irrespective of the partner operator, there is also a single toll-free number for customers to get 24×7 support. Plus, there will be a single payment app, a unified RFID device-based payment option and integration within Tata Motors’ existing iRA.ev app.
Tata.ev Zeon fast chargers.
While the Tata.ev Mega Chargers are essentially being setup and operated by external CPOs, Tata Motors’ chief strategy officer, Balaje Rajan, told Autocar India that the company has “very clear service level agreements in place with each of the operators to ensure that the right kind of service level is provided”. To that end, for now, it has only tied up with four providers who have met all the criteria, he added.
Tata Motors Open Collaboration Initiative
In 2023, Tata Motors launched its ‘Open Collaboration’ framework, under which it partnered with CPOs and Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to expand the charging infrastructure. The company has now announced the ‘Open Collaboration 2.0’ programme with an aim to more than double the number of charging points to over 4,00,000 within the next two years; this includes 30,000 public chargers, with home chargers and community charging outlets accounting for the rest.
Tata.ev Statiq fast chargers.
The Mega Chargers will primarily be located within cities and also include key highways. Responding to a question from Autocar, the company’s managing director, Shailesh Chandra, said the city focus is mainly “to create visibility for an electric vehicle charging network, as our surveys show that those who do not consider EVs think that public chargers are too few.” He added that this is also because so many chargers today are within homes and dealerships, and each of these Mega Charger locations would also feature prominent Tata.ev Mega Charger branding.
Also in the pipeline is a UPI-based payment for community charging using any UPI app and doorstep charging via a mobile charging van.
Tata.ev verified chargers
The Tata.ev Chargezone.
In addition to its Mega Changer network, Tata Motors will introduce a ‘Tata.ev Verified Charger’ rating for CPOs in its iRA app. The score will be on a 5-point scale, where customers will rate the charger on four counts: the environment, accessibility, working condition and compatibility score with Tata EVs. Only those locations with a 4-star and above rating would secure the ‘.ev verified’ mark. While the ‘.ev verified’ mark would be crowd-sourced, Rajan said the company has also run a thorough audit to identify ‘.ev verified’ locations and will keep the checklist open for third parties to audit and verify these ratings.
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