State-run Energy Efficiency Services(EESL) has scrapped its second tender for procurement of 10,000 electric cars.
This tender was floated in April, and had been on hold after a preliminary pre-bid meeting. A similar tender was floated in August last year, and the rollout of 10,000 cars under the tender was expected to be complete by March 2019.
The tender has been scrapped as the company has been awaiting clarification from the Department of Science & Technology (DST) to issue the standard norms for charging stations, because of which the tender was first put on hold and now has been scrapped entirely.
Presently, DST is deciding between CHAdeMO and Combined Charging System (CCS)—the charging formats promoted by Japanese and European automakers respectively.
Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will have to build their cars in tandem with the specified charging standards for their vehicle to be compatible with the charging stations. In the previous tender, which was bagged by Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra, the cars were compatible with Bharat EV Charger AC-001 and DC-001 formats.
Reference- Economic Times, DST website, Department of Heavy Industries