Sri Lanka’s Tenaga Car Parks and JLanka to set up more electric vehicle charging stations in Colombo
Sri Lanka’s Tenaga Car Parks (Pvt) Ltd and JLanka E-mobility (Pvt) Ltd have joined forces to increase the number of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in Colombo.
A news release on the programme published in the local media has stated that South Asia’s largest parking management company, Tenaga Car Parks operates over 100 solar powered parking meters in Colombo and JLanka E-Mobility, a subsidiary of JLanka, the market leader in Photovoltaics energy in Sri Lanka, will deploy EV charging points at designated Tenaga parking locations.
The release has noted that motorists will use a single interface for both parking and charging – with charging an EV (Electric Vehicle) also amounting to parking it.
“What Tenaga’s Park Smart offers drivers of EVs is one single interface for convenient start, stop and extending of charging and parking transactions. Letting charging become an integrated part of the Park Smart parking experience makes life for EV drivers easier. Keeping both charging and parking together in one user flow means there is no need for dual user interfaces and separate flows and for drivers who use the mobile app for parking; making the task so much easier.”
Tenaga Car Parks (Pvt) Ltd. Managing Director Duminda Jayatilake has reportedly said that convenience was the driving force behind this project.
“Our vision is to make it as convenient as possible for drivers to find and pay for parking in the city. With our app you can already start, stop and extend your parking – no matter whether you are at a meeting, in a café or shopping. Now we are looking to make it easier to be an EV-driver as well, by allowing users to pay for parking and charging through just one transaction.”
The user experience starts off with a registration flow, either through one of the smart phone apps, the web or a call to the call centre.
JLanka E-Mobility (Pvt.) Ltd. Head of Business Sujeeva Premaratne has said this project will encourage more Sri Lankans to invest in electric vehicles.
“Sri Lanka is somewhat slow in adapting to EVs, mainly due to lacking infrastructure. This initiative will contribute to the creation of smarter and more sustainable solution that helps create greener and a more livable city,” he has said.
Customers will be able to pay for their EV charging through the Park Smart app in which payment options such as eZcash, M-Cash, FriMi, Visa, MasterCard, and Amex are all available.
OSL take:
The Sri Lankan government in its Budget 2018 announced that steps would be taken to promote the use of electrical vehicles and those that do not operate on fossil fuels. Taxes on electric vehicle imports have also been reduced, which has resulted in an increase in the purchase of electric vehicles by Sri Lankan consumers. The government has also called on the private sector to set up electric vehicle charging centers island wide in order to encourage the use of electric vehicles in the country. This is an opportunity for foreign businesses to engage in importing electric vehicles to the country and to set up a network of electric charging centers with supplementary facilities required by motorists when engaged in long distance travel.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/13092018/Z_2 |