Silvercity has always kept up with the times; this is very evident in ever-increasing numbers of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in our compound! As the world grapples with the challenges of climate change and environmental degradation, EVs have emerged as one of the possibilities of hope, offering a cleaner and greener alternative to conventional petrol/diesel vehicles.
This write-up is to share the facts about owning an electric vehicle and how simple it is to bring this to your home.
We are very proud to state that Purvanchal Silvercity, Sector-93, is extending all possible help to encourage residents who currently have and plan to buy EVs in the current and near future. The society is helping in the installation of the charging point right up till the parking area. In fact Silvercity has been using electric golf carts for the last 15+ years, for residents and visitors, and has a charging station for the e-carts installed for internal usage.
There are three proud owners of Electric vehicles in Silvercity – Dr. Anjana Dogra, Sr. Principal Scientist NPL(T-17), she bought her EV in February 2021; Rahul Shukla, Lawyer(T-17) who bought his EV in April end; and Sanjay Gupta, Engineer(T-16) who bought his EV in May end. They all are of the same opinion that their EVs are: • Silent, automatic and environment friendly • Support in reducing the carbon foot print • Energy Efficiency The proud owners gave the following updates:
Dr. Anjana Dogra, bought her Tata Nexon EV in Feb 2021. She is the first resident to own the EV in Silvercity. According to her, the whole experience of installing the charger and using the same is quite smooth and simple. She is also very happy with her decision and is driving the EV to her office very regularly. It has helped her reduce her monthly fuel bill drastically.
Rahul Shukla, bought his Nexon EV Max in April 2023. As per him, the battery life is 8 years and he has installed a 3KW charging point which is given based on the flat backup capacity as the same is connected to the flat main meter.
Sanjay Gupta, bought his Nexon EV in May 2023. As per him, the car is automatic and is very silent, convenient and comfortable. The cost of the car includes the charges with 15 meter charging cable. Additional cable would be charged extra.
The above three residents also explained that:
- The cost of the car includes the charger and the charging cable. The company installs the charger before the delivery of the car. In Silvercity, it is an advantage that all the electric meters are installed in the parking area so bringing their connection to their parking was very simple specially with the help of AOA.
- There is a concept of slow charging and fast charging units. Normally the charging point in individual parking area is a slow charger which takes about 8–12 hours for a 0à 100% charge. The fast charging points are normally in commercial areas which take about 1–1.5 hours for a 0à 100% charge. Currently the fast charging points near Silvercity are available behind Advant building, Sector 142, and in Amity University.
- The government through EESL (Energy Efficiency Services Limited) has installed a lot of charging points in public places all across NCR and this can be booked through the app-electreefi. However, the maintenance of these public charging points is still a current challenge. Tata also has their own app – which also shows the availability of charging points nearby.
- The car company also provides mobile chargers in case one gets stuck due to low or no charge. These mobile charges come on a truck and are able to fast charge a vehicle.
- The total expense of charging is ~ INR 200 per week on an everyday usage of the car.
- A challenge mentioned was that the charging stops in case there is power current fluctuation – which happens sometimes in our region. Another point mentioned was about planning – one has to have full charge before you venture for a long distance driving – so you do not run out of charge mid way.
Special thanks to Umashankar Sharma and Rajiv Mehta of Silvercity AOA who patiently explained the process and for helping the EV owners set up the charging points in their parking areas.
by Vaishali Joshi Mehta (T-6/515, Silvercity Apartments)
