Carzonrent partners with EV charging service firm Fortum Charge, to set up charging infrastructure

Car rental firm Carzonrent on Wednesday said it has tied up with leading electric vehicle charging service provider Fortum Charge & Drive India.

As part of the association, Fortum will set up charging infrastructure for the Carzonrent fleet of 19,000 cars, to be inducted over the next five years across the country.

Fortum will set up 3,200 charging points across 79 cities for Plug Mobility, Carzonrent's EV platform, during the next five year period to support the energy requirement of the fleet.

The charging infrastructure will be utilised by the Carzonrent EV fleet brand and will also be available for the general public to charge their electric cars.

"Carzonrent will provide a chauffeur-driven EV fleet through its initiative Plug for different ground mobility needs and our aim is on saving 4 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in the next five years by introducing 19,000 EVs across India to service corporate business travel and employee transportation," Carzonrent India MD Rajiv Kumar Vij said in a statement.

The fleet would also cater to guest and crew/staff movement requirements for the hospitality and aviation sector, official travel requirements of the Central and state governments and PSU entities, Airport taxi services and SME clients, he added.

"With the company's significant local presence, backed by the great market potential of EVs in India, we look forward to this collaboration," Vij said.

Fortum will set up and operate the charging points at its own cost and will install the charging stations gradually and the capacity of the deployed chargers will be over 1,00,000 KW.

"We are happy to collaborate with Carzonrent to set up charging infrastructure for four-wheelers across the country as a step towards decarbonisation. We at Fortum have been continuously striving to make the benefits of electric mobility accessible to drivers every day for increased EV adoption, whether for private or commercial use," Fortum India President Sanjay Aggarwal said.

With government subsidies, affordability and incentives provided to consumers, EV production and usage is picking up pace, he added.

"Adoption of EVs in India on a larger scale can bring in economic as well as environmental benefits for the country as a whole. The conversation about net-zero targets, zero-emission vehicles, and the 'right' way to decarbonise transport is gearing up," Aggarwal stated.