The availability of adequate public charging infrastructure is a key prerequisite for electric vehicle (EV) adoption. Various state governments are offering financial incentives to encourage the setting up of public chargers for EVs and the Central government has advocated setting up at least one charging point in every 3 km by 3 km grid in a city to allay range anxiety.

Despite the policy push, on-ground implementation of public charging infrastructure (PCS) has not seen much traction due to the high-risk perception of the investment and the uncertainty around the business case for establishing and running a public charging station.

WRI India, under the NDC-Transport Initiative for Asia (NDCTIA) has developed a user-friendly tool that offers a flexible and transparent method to conduct a quick preliminary assessment of the financial justification for setting up a PCS. Currently, there are no such open access tools available in the public domain that work in the Indian context with current solutions primarily developed for advanced economies.

The Financial Analysis of Charging station (FACt) Tool helps city agencies in identifying the financial barriers that hamper private sector deployment of PCSs, enabling stakeholders to design policies to overcome them.

This model is particularly useful for entities that are interested in gaining a foundational understanding of PCS finances in India, such as financial institutions, policymakers/regulators, real estate companies, urban local bodies, and implementing agencies.

Key Features of the FACt

  • Includes technological, operational, financial and regulatory aspects in the financial calculation.
  • Allows users to benchmark the project's internal rate of return (IRR) and understand how to achieve the targeted rate of return.
  • Helps users perform analyses and gain insights into different aspects of the charging business and its viability.
  • Targets the Indian context by considering mainstream EV chargers, electricity tariff frameworks/regulations, land arrangements, etc.