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Manchester Go Electric Ride & Drive Event Review

February 28, 2019

The latest electric vehicles were available for Manchester-based businesses to try out at the Go Electric Ride & Drive event organised by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) in Bolton 27 February 2019.

A range of ultra-low emission cars, vans and trucks were on display, from brands including BMW, Goupil, Iveco, Kia, LDV, Nissan and Tesla.

The event also included talks from TfGM, the Energy Saving Trust, Green Car Guide and GM Chamber of Commerce.

The day before the Go Electric Event, plans were announced for a Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone, due to be implemented from 2021, which would mean that owners of the most polluting buses, non-compliant HGVs, taxis and private hire vehicles would be required to pay a daily penalty to drive in Greater Manchester. From 2023 the Clean Air Zone would also incorporate non-compliant vans.

This will be the largest Clean Air Zone outside of London, covering all 10 of the local authorities – a population of nearly three million people across 500 square miles.

Business and clean air benefits from EVs

Matthew O’Neill – Intervention Officer – Air Quality Lead, Logistics & Environment, Transport for Greater Manchester, gave a presentation about how electric vehicles (EVs) can bring business and clean air benefits.

Matthew talked about how air pollution is split into two categories: gases and particulates, and how road transport is responsible for 80% of NO2 concentrations at the roadside, of which diesel vehicles are the largest source.

The Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan involves a major package of financial support being available for GM businesses. TfGM has also received £5.4 million government funding to part-fund 23 new electric buses and charging infrastructure, and £1.8m in funding will be awarded to local authorities across Greater Manchester for taxis, with 160 charging points for ultra-low emission taxis to be created. TfGM can also offer grants up to £10,000 for workplace charging points.

There will also be investment in 600 new GMEV public rapid electric vehicle charging points across the city-region (with 48 new rapid charging points by September 2019) – nearly trebling the size of the network.

The next steps in the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan will include:

Local Authority governance throughout March
Approved Outline Business Case submitted by 31 March
Government approval/response expected in 6-8 weeks following submission
Public conversation launches mid-May, running for six weeks
Statutory consultation will follow
Full Business Case developed by the end of 2019
Further Local Authority approvals to take place around Full Business Case.

Charging Infrastructure

Fiona Appleton, the Energy Saving Trust’s Regional Account Manager, Transport, Local Government Support Programme, gave a presentation about Charging Infrastructure.

Funded by the DfT, the EST is supporting Greater Manchester by offering fully-funded support to determine whether fleets should make the switch to electric vehicles.

Fiona explained about three types of EV chargers:

Wall Mounted chargers – Domestic & Workplace
Floor Mounted / Post chargers – Public Posts or “Destination Charging”
Rapid chargers – Service Stations & Depots

Fiona also made the point that EVs can now be charged at the rate of 80 miles in 5-20 minutes at a 150kW-350kW charger.

The Latest Electric Vehicles

Paul Clarke, Green Car Guide’s Editor, gave a presentation about the latest electric vehicles.

Paul explained why we will be driving electric rather than petrol or diesel cars very soon; reviewed the latest plug-in hybrids and pure electric cars; and looked ahead to the new EVs that are due in the next year.

View the content of Paul Clarke’s latest electric vehicles presentation here

GM Chamber Electric Vehicle Survey

Andy Lewis, organiser of the Go Electric event, stood in for Chris Fletcher, Campaigns & Marketing Director at the GM Chamber, and talked about the GM Chamber Electric Vehicle Survey. Two of the survey headlines were that 83% of 407 respondents didn’t currently use/own a hybrid/EV, and 229 out of 344 responses cited a lack of charging infrastructure as a main barrier to adoption of EVs in Greater Manchester. It’s hoped that the investment in 600 new GMEV public rapid electric vehicle charging points across the city-region will help to address this concern.

Thanks go to the Multiply joint venture between Harworth Group plc and the Lancashire County Pension Fund for the excellent venue for this Go Electric event.

More Go Electric Events are being run in order to provide more information about EVs to businesses, as well as offering more EV test drive opportunities. The next events are: