EV Charging Stations on Highways in India: Planning & Business Guide 2026

Highway charging is one of the most important parts of India's EV ecosystem because it determines whether drivers can confidently use electric vehicles beyond routine city travel.

Unlike home or destination charging, EV charging stations on highways must serve drivers who may have planned an entire journey around a specific stop. That makes site access, charger reliability, real-time availability, grid capacity and backup options just as important as peak charging power.

A successful corridor site is therefore not simply “a fast charger beside a road.”

It is a complete travel, electrical and operating system designed around dependable turnaround.

Why EV Charging Stations on Highways Are Different

Highway charging has a different operating profile from urban destination charging.

Drivers generally care about:

• Reliable charger availability

• Minimal route detour

• Useful charging speed

• Easy entry and exit

• Toilets and food

• Safe access after dark

• Transparent pricing

• Backup charging options

Demand can also be uneven.

Weekdays, weekends, holidays, fleet movement and seasonal travel can produce substantially different utilisation patterns.

Operators should therefore plan for both normal demand and peak congestion rather than sizing a site using one average traffic figure.

Current Highway EV Charging Guidance in India

The Ministry of Power's 2024 charging-infrastructure guidelines suggest that EV charging stations may be located every 20 km on both sides of highways, expressways and major roads.

For long-range and heavy-duty EVs, the framework separately suggests higher-power charging facilities at 100 km intervals on each side of designated corridors, including at least two chargers of minimum 240 kW capacity for the specified heavy-duty use case.

These figures are useful national corridor-planning guidance.

They should not be interpreted to mean:

• Every 20 km location will be commercially viable

• Every private operator must install identical hardware

• Traffic demand will automatically exist

• Every corridor needs the same charger mix

Real deployment still requires site-level feasibility analysis.

PM E-DRIVE and Highway Charging Infrastructure

PM E-DRIVE includes ₹2,000 crore for public EV charging infrastructure across India, including charging deployment in cities and along highways.

However, this is not a blanket cash subsidy automatically paid to every private investor who installs a charger.

The current EVPCS framework operates through eligible government entities and nodal agencies, with different treatment for different location categories.

A highway project should therefore be commercially evaluated before subsidy, and confirmed scheme support should be treated separately.

Site Selection for EV Charging Stations on Highways

Location usually determines project quality before charger brand does.

1. Measure Relevant EV Traffic

Do not use total highway traffic alone.

Estimate:

• Passenger EV traffic

• Electric taxi movement

• Fleet activity

• E-bus potential

• E-truck potential

• Direction-wise vehicle flow

• Weekend demand

• Holiday peaks

• Seasonal traffic

A busy highway can still be a weak charging site if EV drivers have no practical reason to enter the property.

2. Check Entry and Exit

A good charging location should minimise:

• U-turns

• Long service-road detours

• Difficult merges

• Unsafe road crossings

• Confusing internal access

For highway charging sites, five extra minutes of awkward access can matter more than a small difference in charger power.

The driver's real metric is:

time from highway → charger → back to highway

not charger kW alone.

3. Map Existing Charging Competition

Before selecting the property, identify nearby:

• Charging stations

• Connector types

• Charger power

• Number of charging bays

• Reliability

• Pricing

• Operating hours

• Parking restrictions

• Amenities

A valuable new site may:

• Fill a genuine corridor gap

• Add redundancy to a weak stretch

• Serve a fleet requirement

• Add higher-power charging

• Improve reliability in an existing cluster

Use the SpeedCharge Station Finder and EV Charging Site Selection Guide during feasibility analysis.

4. Evaluate Amenities

Charging and normal travel breaks often happen at the same time.

Useful amenities can include:

• Clean toilets

• Food

• Drinking water

• Seating

• Shade

• Convenience retail

• Family-friendly facilities

• Safe parking

MoRTH's Wayside Amenities programme plans facilities at roughly 40–60 km intervals on National Highways, with EV charging among the planned facilities alongside fuel, food, toilets and parking.

Existing fuel stations, restaurants and wayside properties can therefore be strong candidate locations.

5. Check Night-Time Safety

Highway charging must also work after dark.

Evaluate:

• Lighting

• CCTV

• Active staff

• Visibility

• Emergency assistance

• Pedestrian access

• Security

A high-power station that users avoid at night is not a strong corridor asset.

Match Charger Power to Actual Vehicles

Installing the largest charger available does not automatically maximise utilisation or customer experience.

Actual DC charging power can be limited by:

• Vehicle maximum DC acceptance

• Battery State of Charge

• Battery temperature

• Charging curve

• Site power availability

• Charger power-sharing logic

• Vehicle software

A 240 kW charger therefore does not guarantee that every vehicle receives 240 kW throughout the session.

More Connectors vs Higher Power

The original draft treated additional connectors as generally superior to higher power.

That is too broad.

There are cases where more connectors improve:

• Redundancy

• Queue management

• Simultaneous sessions

There are also cases where higher-power charging improves:

• Turnaround

• Fleet utilisation

• Highway trip time

Compare at least two configurations.

Configuration A

Several moderate-power chargers.

Configuration B

Fewer higher-power chargers.

Then model:

• Vehicles served per hour

• Average kWh/session

• Charging curve

• Peak queues

• Grid capacity

• Capex

• Electrical infrastructure

• Expected future vehicle capability

The correct answer is a throughput and economics calculation.

Understand Shared-Power Chargers

A dual-gun DC unit may have one total cabinet rating that is dynamically divided between simultaneous vehicles.

For example, do not assume that a charger labelled 120 kW automatically provides:

120 kW + 120 kW simultaneously

Check:

• Cabinet output

• Per-connector maximum

• Simultaneous output

• Dynamic sharing logic

• Minimum power allocation

These specifications should be clear before procurement.

Grid Planning for EV Charging Stations on Highways

Grid feasibility should be assessed before committing to a long lease, major civil work or expensive charging hardware.

Obtain site-specific information on:

• Available sanctioned load

• LT/HT connection

• Existing transformer

• Spare capacity

• Required augmentation

• Distance from supply

• Utility deposits

• Connection work

• Future expansion

India's national charging framework permits EV charging-station owners to opt for LT connections up to 150 kW, subject to the applicable process and site conditions.

This does not mean every 150 kW project can connect without upstream work.

Does Every Highway DC Charger Need a Transformer?

No.

Transformer requirements depend on:

• Existing supply

• Existing transformer

• Spare capacity

• Charger load

• Other site demand

• DISCOM requirements

• Future expansion

A fuel station with existing electrical infrastructure and a greenfield charging plot can have completely different project costs even when both install the same DC charger.

Get written electrical feasibility before finalising project economics.

Battery-Buffered Highway Charging

Stationary battery storage can sometimes reduce peak grid draw while allowing the charging system to provide higher output for short periods.

Potential uses include:

• Peak-demand management

• Limited-grid sites

• Solar integration

• High-power charging support

But battery buffering does not automatically eliminate the need for a grid upgrade.

Model:

• Battery capacity

• Battery power

• Daily charging throughput

• Battery cycling

• Round-trip losses

• Grid tariff

• Maintenance

• Replacement cost

• Capital cost

Compare storage directly with the conventional infrastructure-upgrade option.

Managing Holiday and Peak Queues

Highway charging demand can become concentrated around:

• Long weekends

• Festivals

• Holiday travel

• Tourist seasons

• Fleet peaks

A site should plan:

• Clearly marked bays

• Defined waiting area

• Queue instructions

• Live status

• Customer assistance

• Peak-period staff where justified

Should Highway Chargers Force an 80% Limit?

No universal 80% rule should be imposed simply because many EV charging curves taper at higher State of Charge.

Different vehicles taper differently.

A driver may reasonably need more energy because:

• The next charger is far away

• The next station is unreliable

• Weather affects range

• Route elevation increases consumption

• Backup options are limited

Instead of a rigid limit, busy sites can improve throughput using:

• Charging etiquette

• App notifications

• Queue visibility

• Idle fees after charging ends

• Transparent charger status

The goal is efficient bay use—not an arbitrary battery percentage.

Reliability Is a Core Highway Product

On a highway, charger downtime has greater consequences than at many urban locations because the next alternative may be much farther away.

Design for graceful degradation.

Evaluate:

• Multiple connectors

• Independent modules where appropriate

• Remote monitoring

• Automated fault alerts

• Spare parts

• Maintenance response

• Backup corridor locations

A single fault should ideally reduce available capacity rather than close the entire charging stop.

Real-Time Availability Matters

A useful charging platform should distinguish where technically possible between:

• Available

• Charging

• Reserved

• Faulted

• Offline

Incorrect availability information can create more frustration than no live information because drivers make route decisions based on it.

India's current charging framework explicitly encourages connected and interoperable charging infrastructure.

Payment Should Be Simple

Highway users may be travelling outside their normal city and may not already have the operator's app.

Evaluate:

• QR

• UPI

• App payment

• RFID

• Guest charging

• Roaming where supported

• Digital receipt

Do not assume every Indian network already supports universal roaming.

Interoperability and universal commercial access are not the same thing.

Highway Charger Pricing

Do not build station economics using customer tariff alone.

Basic charging revenue is:

Billable kWh × Realised Customer Price

From this, account for:

• Electricity

• Software

• Payment processing

• Maintenance

• Site rent/revenue share

• Staff

• Connectivity

• Taxes

• Downtime

• Financing

• Asset depreciation

Run at least:

Conservative + Base + Strong Utilisation

scenarios.

Utilisation Matters More Than Nameplate Power

A very high-power charger with limited usage can have weak asset utilisation.

Track:

• Sessions/day

• kWh/session

• kWh/day

• Average charging power

• Peak simultaneous users

• Queue duration

• Charger uptime

• Energy sold per connector

• Repeat-user share

These metrics tell you whether expansion should mean:

• Another connector

• Higher power

• More grid capacity

• No expansion yet

Revenue Beyond EV Charging

A highway station may create additional commercial value through:

• Food and beverage

• Retail

• Parking

• Advertising

• Fleet contracts

• Property footfall

But do not assume every charging customer automatically buys food or retail products.

Model:

Charging revenue

and

Ancillary revenue

separately.

Existing Highway Stop vs Greenfield Charging Site

Existing properties can offer:

• Existing road traffic

• Amenities

• Toilets

• Staff

• Security

• Commercial land

• Existing power infrastructure

A greenfield site can provide greater layout flexibility but may require more investment in:

• Power

• Civil works

• Amenities

• Security

• Access

Neither option is universally better.

Compare total installed cost and realistic demand.

PM E-DRIVE Support for Highway Projects

Current PM E-DRIVE EVPCS rules classify charging locations into different categories.

Government-controlled toll plazas and Wayside Amenities on highways and expressways can fall under Category B, while other highway or expressway sites can fall into other categories such as Category C.

Different percentages of support can apply to upstream infrastructure and EVSE according to location category.

The important investment rule is:

Do not include subsidy in base-case ROI until eligibility is formally established.

Highway Charging for Electric Trucks and Buses

Heavy-duty charging should be treated as a distinct infrastructure problem.

Evaluate:

• Battery capacity

• Duty cycle

• Required turnaround

• Vehicle geometry

• Parking length

• Turning radius

• Charger output

• Grid capacity

• Driver rest periods

• Freight traffic

The Ministry of Power's corridor framework separately recognises long-range and heavy-duty vehicles with higher-power charging guidance at wider corridor intervals.

Do not simply scale up a passenger-car charging bay.

Corridor Planning Is Bigger Than One Site

A strong charging site can still sit on a weak route.

Drivers need confidence that:

• The next charger is reachable

• Backup charging exists

• Status information is reliable

• Connectors are compatible

• Both travel directions are covered

A corridor should therefore be analysed as a network rather than a collection of isolated pins.

Highway Charging Site Checklist

How SpeedCharge Can Support Highway Charging Projects

Businesses and property owners can begin with the EV Charging Site Selection Guide to evaluate corridor demand, competition and electrical feasibility.

For deployment planning, review:

• How to Set Up an EV Charging Station in India

• EV Charger Installation Guide

• SpeedCharge Partner Solutions

Highway hotels, restaurants, fuel-station operators and other property owners should request a complete site-feasibility analysis before selecting charger power.

Final Thoughts

A dependable network of EV charging stations on highways requires far more than high charger power.

The strongest sites combine:

route demand + easy access + suitable charger mix + grid feasibility + redundancy + live information + amenities + reliable operations

Confirm the grid before buying hardware.

Match charger power to real vehicles instead of marketing numbers.

Design around failure as well as normal operation.

Treat government support as conditional until approved.