Electric car charging goes live in Bury

Bury Council

Electric car charging goes live in Bury

Bury Council - Jul 23, 2013 17:15 BST

A new electric vehicle charging point network and ‘pay as you go’ programme, led by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), will start on Sunday July 28.

The Greater Manchester Electric Vehicle (GMEV) scheme will see more than 250 charging bays across the ten Greater Manchester districts go live - providing commuters with the infrastructure to charge electric vehicles.

There are seven car parks across Bury which will have electric vehicle charging points:

* The Castle, Bolton Street, Bury

* Foundry Street, Bury

* Trinity Street, Bury

* Parsons Lane, Bury

* Market Street, Bury

* Fairfax Road, Prestwich

* Prince Street, Ramsbottom.

Councillor Tony Isherwood, Bury’s cabinet member for environment, said: “The Committee on Climate Change – the Government’s climate advisors – forecast that there will be 1.7 million electric vehicles on UK roads by 2020. These can offer low running costs, and reduce local air and noise pollution

“Studies show that a good network of charging points is the key to getting drivers to consider a switch to electric.

“It is expected that the new charging points will be vital in helping Greater Manchester hit its carbon reduction targets as well as improving transport choices and employment opportunities.”

Customers will be able to register through the TfGM website and receive an access card in the post, register via a mobile app downloadable from the website, or simply ‘pay as you go’ by phone.

As an introductory offer, GMEV users will be able to charge their electric vehicles for free, although an admin charge will apply for the ‘pay as you go' service. The full pricing structure for users of the GMEV scheme will be announced in the autumn.

Recharging a typical EV (7kwh/32amp capability) fully in a GMEV bay will take approximately three to four hours – up to three times faster than charging at home. Users will pay a flat rate per hour to recharge their vehicle, with a full charge costing no more than £6, enabling an EV driver to travel around 100 miles.

Private sector partners, such as NCP, Manchester Central, Manchester Metropolitan University, Salford University and Intu Trafford Centre are also on board, providing their own charging bays to supplement the network.

The GMEV scheme will be operated by Charge Your Car (CYC), a leader in EV charging networks. CYC will manage the payments and access to the GMEV scheme on behalf of Transport for Greater Manchester.

The scheme was funded using £1.7 million of support through the Office for Low Emission Vehicles’ (OLEV) ‘Plugged In Places’ scheme and a further £1 million from the combined Greater Manchester authorities’ allocated transport budget.

Further information is available at www.ev.tfgm.com

* TfGM will be holding a GMEV launch event on Friday July 26 and Saturday July 27 at the Intu Trafford Centre to raise awareness of the scheme.

Visitors to the Intu Trafford Centre will be able to visit Orient Way to see electric vehicles, such as the Renault Zoe, and speak to representatives about GMEV. They can even book in for a test drive by emailing gmev@creativeconcern.com in advance or, subject to availability on either day, simply turning up with their full driving licence.

For further information on Greater Manchester Electric Vehicle Scheme visit ev.tfgm.com.

 

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