TRAFFORD Council is investing £500,000 into new electric vehicle charging points across the borough and now has an idea of where they will be.

In a new council report presented at Monday's executive meeting, the number and potential locations of the first phase rollout of new charging points were announced.

Cllr Stephen Adshead, executive member for environmental and regulatory services, indicated the phased rollout of EV charging points would eventually give a total of around 150 publicly available charging bays in Trafford.

The plan is to install a mixture of fast (full charge in one to six hours), rapid (full charge in 20 to 60 minutes) and ultra-rapid (full charge in five to 10 minutes) charging points across Trafford.

Installation work is set to begin on the first phase – including 46 new charging points, each with two charging bays – from as early as January to March 2022, which will take approximately three months to complete.

Here is where those new EV charging points are pencilled in for:

  • Altrincham: three fast chargers and three rapid chargers – total six
  • Ashton on Mersey: three fast chargers – total three
  • Bucklow St Martins: two fast chargers and two rapid chargers – total four
  • Flixton: two fast chargers and two rapid chargers – total four
  • Hale: three fast chargers – total three
  • Longford: two fast chargers and two rapid chargers – total four
  • Sale: three fast chargers and three rapid chargers – total six
  • Stretford: two fast chargers and two rapid chargers – total four
  • Timperley: two fast chargers and two rapid chargers – total four
  • Urmston: eight ultra-rapid chargers – total eight

Grant funding from outside organisations is also available to the council to support the rollout.

The council report said: “The accelerated rollout of EV infrastructure to support increased demand as the transition from using fuel to electric vehicles is ever more important following approval of the Clean Air Plan in 2021.

“The phasing of the rollout will see a marked increase in charge points in 2021/22 with a potential for further rollouts on a larger scale thereafter.”

The proposals aim to ensure availability of charging points throughout the borough, including in residential areas, and make the charging points accessible and affordable.

The council is working with supplier Be.EV to finalise suitable locations for the charging points across Trafford and Be.EV is set to invest around £3.6 million into the initial rollout.

Be.EV would then own and be responsible for the installation and management of the network.

The council could share in any profits made through the Be.EV networks once they’re up and running to the tune of an proposed 10-20pc – but could earn more if it chose to invest in direct ownership of the scheme.

Be.EV members will benefit from reduced tariffs at the charging points too, with membership packages available.

The proposals are running alongside Greater Manchester-wide plans from Transport for Greater Manchester to install more charging points across the city-region, including taxi-only charging hubs.

The plans to improve the availability of charging points throughout Greater Manchester are all part of the Clean Air Plan which aims to reduce emissions across the area.

It is understood consultation on the matter will be ongoing as plans are finalised.