The state's EV policy named model towns for EV readiness. With the Directorate of Transport asking every RTO to collaborate, we prepared city EV roadmaps for Shimla, Baddi, Dharamshala, Hamirpur and Mandi.
How each plan was built
- City profiles: population, tourism, land use, connectivity and growth.
- Vehicle registrations, the age of the fleet, and the share of each vehicle type.
- Route analysis with elevation profiles, because a hill road decides a battery's range.
- Meetings with RTOs, municipal officials, bus depots and dealers, and walks through markets and bus stands.
What the towns said
In Mandi district, 324 EVs were on the road and HRTC's electric buses ran about 110 km a day on routes like Pandoh – Mandi. But charging windows were short, batteries were a worry, the grid could not take extra load, hoteliers were being asked to add chargers, and some owners were selling their electric two-wheelers because charging and servicing were hard to find. The plans turn these into local actions on charging sites, grid upgrades, e-buses and awareness.
