Trafford Council's electric vehicle charging roll-out gathers pace

Trafford Council’s drive to improve residents’ lives has been boosted with the installation of 19 more electric vehicle (EV) charging bays.

The EV bays will be going live across four sites this month. Crucially, three of these sites are hubs with a series of charging bays.

The council has been working with charging infrastructure provider Be.EV as part of a big push to encourage drivers to swap polluting cars for electric vehicles.

Hubs have been created at Flixton Road, Thorley Lane and Brown Street, plus two rapid charging bays at Longford Park. There are the first of 100 planned throughout the borough.

According to Department for Transport figures, quarterly new EV registrations in Trafford have doubled in the space of a year (Q1 2021 – Q1 2022).

Be.EV has been working closely with the EV team at Trafford Council to select and prioritise locations of the new chargers according to where they are most needed - near houses without driveways, for example - and where they can be delivered quickly.

Chris Morris, Trafford Council’s Director of Highways, Transport and Environment said: “It’s important we can provide an alternative to vehicles that produce pollutants breathed in by our residents.

“Our priorities are to address the climate crisis, as well as to improve people’s health. Therefore. these charging points, along with our active travel plans, are a great way to reduce the impact on our environment as well as keeping our residents healthy.”

“The aim of this roll-out is to create dependable, fair and even access to public EV charging across the borough.

“We don’t just put chargers where current EV drivers live – we are installing bays throughout Trafford so that anyone can go electric, even if they can’t charge at home.

“We are working with the team at Be.EV to find the locations that will make the biggest difference locally. Building bigger hubs that ensure there’s always a free space is part of that strategy.”

Be.EV CEO Asif Ghafoor said: “We are delighted to have supported Trafford Council with our planning and data expertise and – crucially – with significant capital investment.”