ChargeZone Plans 1,000 Highway Fast-Charging Stations Under Franchise Model

ChargeZone, India's largest EV charging network operator, has announced plans to deploy over 1,000 fast-charging stations across major national highway corridors by FY2027. The company is adopting a DOCO (Dealer Owned, Company Operated) franchise model, partnering with the State Bank of India to make financing accessible. Each station will deliver between 500 kW and 1.5 MW of charging capacity, enough to serve personal EVs and commercial fleets simultaneously. If executed on schedule, this would be the single largest private-sector highway charging rollout in India's history.

The DOCO Model -- A New Way to Scale

The traditional approach to building EV charging infrastructure has been capital-intensive. Operators raise funds, lease or buy land, install hardware, connect to the grid, and then hope that utilization rates justify the investment. This model has worked in dense urban areas where foot traffic is high, but it has struggled on highways where utilization is lower and land costs vary wildly across states.

ChargeZone's DOCO model flips the capital structure. Under this arrangement, the dealer -- which can be a landowner, entrepreneur, business, or institution -- invests in the station hardware and provides the land. ChargeZone, as the operator, handles everything else: station design and development, equipment procurement and commissioning, software and payment integration, day-to-day operations and maintenance, and customer support.

The logic is straightforward. Landowners along highways -- hotel operators, fuel station owners, restaurant chains, industrial park developers -- already have the real estate and the customer traffic. What they lack is the technical expertise to build and run a high-voltage DC charging station. ChargeZone provides that expertise while the landowner provides the capital and location. Revenue is shared between the two parties.

Investment Details and SBI Financing

Each ChargeZone highway station requires a minimum investment of approximately 1 Crore (10 million rupees). This covers the charging hardware (DC fast chargers, cables, connectors), electrical infrastructure (transformers, switchgear, grid connection), civil work (canopy, parking bays, signage), and the initial setup costs for software and payment systems.

To make this accessible, ChargeZone has partnered with the State Bank of India (SBI) under its EV Mitra scheme. SBI's EV Mitra is a dedicated lending programme for EV charging infrastructure, offering loans ranging from 10 Lakh to 10 Crore at subsidized interest rates, with repayment periods of up to 7 years. The scheme was designed specifically to support enterprises developing public charging infrastructure and has already been used to finance several hundred urban charging stations across India.

The SBI partnership is significant because access to capital has been the bottleneck for many prospective charging station operators. A highway dhaba owner or petrol pump dealer may see the opportunity in EV charging but cannot self-finance a 1 Crore installation. SBI's EV Mitra removes that barrier with structured, long-tenor lending specifically designed for this asset class.

Station Specifications -- 500 kW to 1.5 MW

ChargeZone's highway stations are not small installations. With charging capacities ranging from 500 kW to 1.5 MW per station, these facilities are designed to serve multiple vehicles simultaneously, including both personal EVs and commercial electric vehicles such as electric buses and delivery trucks.

To put this in perspective, a typical 500 kW station can charge three to four passenger EVs simultaneously at 120-150 kW each, delivering an 80% charge in roughly 25-35 minutes. A 1.5 MW station can handle eight or more vehicles at once, including heavy-duty commercial EVs that require higher power delivery. All chargers support the CCS2 (Combined Charging System) standard, which is compatible with virtually every EV sold in India including Tata, Mahindra, Hyundai, MG, BYD, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW models.

Highway Corridors -- Current and Planned

ChargeZone's existing network already covers several major highway corridors. The 1,000-station expansion will deepen coverage on these routes while opening up new corridors that currently have sparse or no fast-charging options.

The PM E-DRIVE scheme has allocated approximately 2,000 Crore specifically for EV charging infrastructure, with a target of roughly 72,000 chargers across 50 national highway corridors. ChargeZone's 1,000-station target, while ambitious, represents a significant private-sector contribution alongside the government's efforts. As our earlier analysis noted, highway charging has doubled in the past year but meaningful gaps remain on secondary corridors.

Project E-DHARA -- Solar-Powered Reliability

One of the persistent complaints about EV chargers in India -- particularly on highways and in semi-rural areas -- has been unreliable power supply. Grid fluctuations, scheduled outages, and load shedding can render a charging station useless precisely when a highway traveller needs it most. ChargeZone's answer to this is Project E-DHARA.

Project E-DHARA integrates solar power generation and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) directly into the charging station infrastructure. Solar panels installed at or near the station generate renewable energy during daylight hours, which is stored in on-site battery packs. During grid outages or peak demand periods, the stored energy kicks in, ensuring that the station can continue to serve vehicles without interruption.

The combination of grid power, solar generation, and battery backup is designed to achieve near 100% uptime -- a critical requirement for highway stations where the next charger may be 50-80 km away. For EV owners, this translates to confidence that the charger shown on their navigation app will actually be working when they arrive. That reliability is what ultimately converts range anxiety into range confidence.

What This Means for EV Buyers and Used Car Owners

Highway charging infrastructure has a direct impact on EV buying decisions. Surveys consistently show that range anxiety -- specifically, the fear of running out of charge during highway travel -- is the number one reason Indian car buyers hesitate to go electric. A dense, reliable network of highway fast chargers directly addresses this barrier.

For new EV buyers, ChargeZone's expansion means that long-distance travel in an EV becomes practical on more routes. If you live in Delhi and want to drive to Jaipur, Chandigarh, or even Mumbai in your electric car, the charging infrastructure is rapidly getting to the point where it supports that journey without careful advance planning.

For used EV buyers, the infrastructure buildout is equally significant. One reason used EV prices have lagged behind used ICE prices in India is the perceived inconvenience of charging, especially outside metro cities. As highway and tier-2 city charging improves, used EVs become more attractive to a wider pool of buyers. A used Tata Nexon EV that previously only made sense as a city commuter can now realistically handle weekend highway trips -- and that versatility translates to better resale value. You can already browse verified used EVs on VahanBazaar.

As we covered in our home EV charging guide, the combination of home charging for daily use and highway fast charging for long trips creates the ideal ownership experience. ChargeZone's network expansion brings that ideal closer to reality for millions of Indian car buyers.

Back to Auto News