“Most public chargers I end up using don’t deliver the charge they advertise on the app,” says Jatinder Singh, the owner of a premium electric SUV whom I met at a ChargeZone EV charging hub on the outskirts of Dharwad, Karnataka.
Located within a large food court, the hub is among the most frequented charging points on the Pune-Bengaluru highway. It is not popular just because of its proximity to eateries, allowing EV owners to grab a meal while their cars charge, but also because it is considered one of the more reliable stations on the route.
According to NITI Aayog’s e-Amrit Charging Map portal, India has just 29,277 active public chargers. Maharashtra and Karnataka are among the leading states in terms of functional charging infrastructure, with the Pune–Bengaluru highway boasting the highest number of charging stations on any major highway or expressway in the country. As of December 2025, the total stood at 60 operational stations, with another 49 commissioned.
There is no denying that India’s public EV charging infrastructure has improved dramatically in recent years. Higher-wattage chargers are becoming more common, reducing average charging times. Yet, reliability remains a persistent concern, one I experienced firsthand during a nearly 3,000-km test drive from Mumbai to Kochi via Bengaluru in the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV 450, currently the country’s longest-range electric SUV.
With a real-world range of around 600 km, the EQS SUV 450 was among the few EVs at launch that made relatively hassle-free interstate travel feasible. Today, several home-grown EVs with larger battery packs are offering even longer ranges, reshaping buyer preferences that were once limited to city-only use.
“I bought my EQE primarily for long-distance drives,” says Naman Taneja, a Mumbai-based businessman who frequently travels to Goa, Coonoor and Coorg in his long-range EV.
Uneven power supply
In practice, charging speeds often fall short of what is promised. A 60 kW charger typically delivers closer to 49 kW, while a 120 kW unit rarely exceeds 80 kW, significantly prolonging charging times.
Along my journey, several charging kiosks offered convenient highway access, food options and ample parking, only for the chargers to be marked offline on their service apps. The ChargeZone hub near Dharwad remains popular not just for its relative reliability, but also for its access to a 120 kW DC charger. Even there, however, output is frequently halved—sometimes even when the second charging gun is unoccupied.
At Dharwad, the EQS received only 60 kW of charge, as did the vehicle queued behind it. While most charging sessions are seamless, spontaneous disconnections are far from rare. Users are notified via their apps, often prompting anxious dashes back from food kiosks to investigate what went wrong.
A local security guard told me that technical issues have been increasing. While stations typically provide a toll-free helpline and contact numbers for technicians, it can take several days for help to arrive. Ironically, the most effective way to get attention, he says, is to shut down the entire station—forcing the ChargeZone headquarters to intervene on priority.
Disappointed with the low output at one location, I drove on to a single 140 kW ChargeZone charger that was fortunately unoccupied. After receiving a 40% charge at just 80 kW, the system malfunctioned, adding yet another delay to an already long journey.
The core issue is that the growth of public chargers has far outpaced grid planning. Across Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala, load-shedding and power interruptions disrupted multiple charging sessions. Several commissioned chargers, including those installed by PSUs such as Indian Oil, remain non-functional due to unresolved issues with state electricity distribution companies.
Many apps, many glitches
Navigating India’s charging ecosystem also means navigating multiple apps. Statiq, a public charging aggregator, is among the most widely used and preferred by EV owners. Other commonly used platforms include Jio-BP, ChargeZone, and Tata Power EZ Charge, the latter of which is frequently cited by users as the most unreliable.
Each app comes with its own interface quirks and challenges. Some require a minimum non-refundable wallet balance, which cannot be used for charging. Others, like ChargeZone, often show a station as “occupied” even when the same user is attempting to initiate charging, since the gun cannot be plugged in before selecting the station on the app.
While most EV users eventually adapt, the learning curve remains steep.
In the absence of a seamless, unified charging network like Tesla’s Supercharger system, Mercedes-Benz India is attempting to bridge the gap—not by installing ultra-high-voltage chargers, but by introducing a platform called MB.Charge. The app allows Mercedes-Benz owners to access multiple public charging networks through a single interface, offering seamless charging and automatic payment.
“Customers purchasing the upcoming CLA electric won’t even need to pay immediately; the transaction will be handled through the car’s operating system,” says managing director Santosh Iyer. Like Tesla’s system, the service is exclusive to Mercedes-Benz owners.
While most manufacturers downplay public charging as a barrier to EV adoption, MB.Charge is an implicit acknowledgement that, even though most EV owners rely primarily on home charging, a fragmented and unreliable public network continues to slow adoption.
The state of charge
“I bought my EV mainly for the performance, which I can really enjoy only on highways,” says Ajay Krishnakumar, a Bengaluru resident. “But on highways, I’m constantly anxious about range because there’s no guarantee the next charging station will even work.”
Another passer-by told me he once had to drive 24 km out of his way after a charging hub malfunctioned.
The promise of electric mobility came hand in hand with that of fast charging. In countries such as China and the US, public chargers range from 50 kW to 350 kW, with high-capacity chargers widely available on highways. In India today, nearly every new EV sold can accept up to 150 kW of charging, meaning a 30-40% top-up should take no more than 20 minutes at a well-equipped charging station.
Instead, most apps now cautiously prefix charging speeds with the word “up to”. Despite meticulous planning, public charging often adds 1.5 to 2 hours to a long-distance journey. If left unaddressed, the problem could worsen as EV batteries age, leading to longer and more frequent charging stops, further testing the patience of early adopters and slowing mass acceptance.
(Parth Charan is a freelance journalist tracking the auto sector.)