[jaysmith08]

Hi All

GMEV is transitioning to a new service provided by Amey PLC as of Monday 22nd June and moving through the summer as part of a full refresh. The kit being used will be Swarco. It will also remain free to use until the autumn. You can also use your current CYC card to activate the new chargers until that time.

All details are on GMEV.co.uk and I’m happy to answer any questions you may have

Thanks

 

[Carty]

Hi All

GMEV is transitioning to a new service provided by Amey PLC as of Monday 22nd June and moving through the summer as part of a full refresh. The kit being used will be Swarco. It will also remain free to use until the autumn. You can also use your current CYC card to activate the new chargers until that time.

All details are on GMEV.co.uk and I’m happy to answer any questions you may have

Thanks

Hi Jay - I have a couple of questions you maybe able to help me with please.
The free to use Charge Master and CYC fast posts located in Peel Ave car park at the Trafford Centre in Manchester. Will these be affected by any of the changes you mention ?.
Currently I have a Polar Plus subscription and a RFID card that allows me free access to these posts.
Will I still be able to access these units FOC after the change over ?.
Thanks !.

 

[jaysmith08]

Hi Jay - I have a couple of questions you maybe able to help me with please.
The free to use Charge Master and CYC fast posts located in Peel Ave car park at the Trafford Centre in Manchester. Will these be affected by any of the changes you mention ?.
Currently I have a Polar Plus subscription and a RFID card that allows me free access to these posts.
Will I still be able to access these units FOC after the change over ?.
Thanks !.

Hi here is where it might get a little tricky (mainly as I don’t know

Hi Jay - I have a couple of questions you maybe able to help me with please.
The free to use Charge Master and CYC fast posts located in Peel Ave car park at the Trafford Centre in Manchester. Will these be affected by any of the changes you mention ?.
Currently I have a Polar Plus subscription and a RFID card that allows me free access to these posts.
Will I still be able to access these units FOC after the change over ?.
Thanks !.

Hi!
No, you won’t be able to continue to use those units beyond Sept/Oct with your Polar card. I believe Polar has a 1 month notice for ending the subscription? So if you aren’t using it elsewhere in the country then you are maybe better to cancel that. Our membership for these posts will be free and if you just sign up to the newsletter or keep checking GMEV.co.uk we’ll update you of the date for “switch off” Please note that even if the new units are installed, you will still be able to use your polar card temporarily until we do that official switch off. There will also be a tariff introduced to those units around the same time.
Thanks!

 

[Curley]

Andy Burnham is after more money to run his Mayoral quango after the people of Greater Manchester voted overwhelmingly against having a Mayor but it was imposed on them with a huge increase on council tax to pay for him, but the council tax didn't go up it was just an addition

 

[jaysmith08]

Andy Burnham is after more money to run his Mayoral quango after the people of Greater Manchester voted overwhelmingly against having a Mayor but it was imposed on them with a huge increase on council tax to pay for him, but the council tax didn't go up it was just an addition

Ha, I can assure you, this network won’t make any money for quite some time!! It’s currently costing about £200k a year though and we need to try and make some of that up! We have directives to clean the air up in Manchester and this is one of the ways we intend to do it!

 

[Curley]

There are a couple of free(?) charging points reasonably close to where I live in council car parks but the parking charges far outweigh the cost of other chargers where you pay to charge

 

[srichards]

That's another thing that can be annoying. Chargers that don't include the parking cost in the charge costs so you have to faff around either parking first and then finding out the charger doesn't work or you mess around with the charger for too long and get told off for parking without a ticket.

Having a set rate which includes parking costs so it can all be done via the one method makes it much more attractive.

 

[jaysmith08]

There are a couple of free(?) charging points reasonably close to where I live in council car parks but the parking charges far outweigh the cost of other chargers where you pay to charge

Well that’s a local authority council issue. We can only ask they consider EV benefits. Ultimately we can only control the unit costs

 

[loofer]

Just saw the stickers on one of our local chargers about it changing.
£200k is a lot of money but it’s also a drop in ocean considering overall TFGM budget/spend and the GM Clean air plan.
Perhaps I’m just used to getting it so easy with free charging and, in my local council, free parking whilst charging in all public car parks.

 

[loofer]

TFGM website states we can see new/proposed locations of chargers on Be.EV but I don’t see any additional ones, at least I can’t see any new ones in Bury.
In August 2018 at a full council meeting a motion was passed to have enough new chargers installed so each Ward had at least 2 charge points, by the end of 2018.
That was delayed and then in Summer2019 I was told they were waiting for the GMEV tender process to close (Amey was mentioned back then).
Since then CYC/GMEV haven’t maintained existing chargepoints that I’ve reported as not working.

 

[jaysmith08]

Just saw the stickers on one of our local chargers about it changing.
£200k is a lot of money but it’s also a drop in ocean considering overall TFGM budget/spend and the GM Clean air plan.
Perhaps I’m just used to getting it so easy with free charging and, in my local council, free parking whilst charging in all public car parks.

The £200k is for running the current infrastructure of course, which was government funded. We’ll be paying Amey for the new units more long term but we need to recoup that now. It’s just not sustainable for it to be free for much longer but we’re aware it can’t price too many people out given the high cost of EV’s still at the moment. The clean air plan fund will be aiming to deliver a further 300 posts and 50 taxi only posts which will also come under TFGM’s ownership but Amey management.

 

[jaysmith08]

TFGM website states we can see new/proposed locations of chargers on Be.EV but I don’t see any additional ones, at least I can’t see any new ones in Bury.
In August 2018 at a full council meeting a motion was passed to have enough new chargers installed so each Ward had at least 2 charge points, by the end of 2018.
That was delayed and then in Summer2019 I was told they were waiting for the GMEV tender process to close (Amey was mentioned back then).
Since then CYC/GMEV haven’t maintained existing chargepoints that I’ve reported as not working.

The Bury units are still being proposed and we’re working with the council to agree locations for them soon. They have budget allocated due to the climate emergency. I’m sure they’d be happy to confirm that. It’s taken us a long time to get this over the line but we start install the refreshed chargers from Monday. I’m hoping we can push that broken Prestwich one up the list as for the map, there are no new chargers as part of refresh but the new locations will be the 24 rapids. We’re just finishing the site assessments with ENW and then we’ll publish those. Make sure you sign up on GMEV.co.uk to get the newsletters!

 

[jaysmith08]

That's another thing that can be annoying. Chargers that don't include the parking cost in the charge costs so you have to faff around either parking first and then finding out the charger doesn't work or you mess around with the charger for too long and get told off for parking without a ticket.

Having a set rate which includes parking costs so it can all be done via the one method makes it much more attractive.

They are two different income streams though. It’s not that straightforward unfortunately. The car park income either goes to the Local Authority or the owner. The charger income comes to TFGM to run the chargers. We try to put them in car parks to minimise the risk of the above happening but it’s certainly difficult to wrap the costs in together. All we can do is influence.

 

[loofer]

The Bury units are still being proposed and we’re working with the council to agree locations for them soon. They have budget allocated due to the climate emergency. I’m sure they’d be happy to confirm that. It’s taken us a long time to get this over the line but we start install the refreshed chargers from Monday. I’m hoping we can push that broken Prestwich one up the list as for the map, there are no new chargers as part of refresh but the new locations will be the 24 rapids. We’re just finishing the site assessments with ENW and then we’ll publish those. Make sure you sign up on GMEV.co.uk to get the newsletters!

Thank you. Presumably you’re working quite close to the project so it’s very welcome to have you on here to share updates and indeed answer questions.
I wrote to a Wayne Leggett last year and did ask that they have a non-binding public consultation about best places for them. Obviously I know there will be some unfeasible ideas and you have your own constraints (planning, access, ENW) but sometimes existing users can generate some tidbits that maybe overlooked.

I’ve signed up to newsletter. Looking forward to updates.

Not sure what PAYG market rate is for fast charging but 25p/kWh seems a bit high yet reasonable, though not something I would pay for. About the same price as a domestic tariff of c15p would make me use them so let’s see what membership prices are

 

[Carty]

Hi here is where it might get a little tricky (mainly as I don’t know


Hi!
No, you won’t be able to continue to use those units beyond Sept/Oct with your Polar card. I believe Polar has a 1 month notice for ending the subscription? So if you aren’t using it elsewhere in the country then you are maybe better to cancel that. Our membership for these posts will be free and if you just sign up to the newsletter or keep checking GMEV.co.uk we’ll update you of the date for “switch off” Please note that even if the new units are installed, you will still be able to use your polar card temporarily until we do that official switch off. There will also be a tariff introduced to those units around the same time.
Thanks!

Now I am really confused ?.
The Trafford Centre offers a mixture of GMEV and Charge Master posts in about equal numbers.
Polar bought out Charge Master & CYC if my memory serves me correctly.
Therefore, having a Polar Plus subscription should still give you access to the Charge Master posts !.
Are the original Charge Master posts being replaced then ?.
You say the GMEV membership will be free, but is that only for people in the Greater Manchester area, or to everybody ?.
If this is only available free to people from the Manchester area, this appears crazy to me !.
Surely these customers live close enough to make the round trip with out requiring a charge even with a short range EV ?.
Remember, customers WHO do travel a long way, require the facility to charge or face the prospect of not making it home.
Its not a luxury, its a necessity.
The very people who should be encouraged to travel a long distance to the Trafford Centre and then spend there money ( like myself ) did so knowing they could shop and at the same time collect a charge free from cost.
Just to say it is not completely free of course, as I am paying Polar a sub to use one of their Charge Master posts.
Many other shopping centres and even super markets now are offering this free facility to EV drivers as they have learn it attracts more customers to their stores.
Just at a time when the Trafford Centre needs every bit of custom it can muster up, they decide to go down this route ?.
Shooting themselves in both feet comes to mind !.
I welcome your views on this subject.

 

[loofer]

Can we get a moderator to please merge this with the other thread in the Charging Locations section.

 

[jaysmith08]

Can we get a moderator to please merge this with the other thread in the Charging Locations section.

Sorry if I’ve jumped and put this in the wrong place, just trying to get the word out but happy to take guidance on anything I can do?

 

[jaysmith08]

Now I am really confused ?.
The Trafford Centre offers a mixture of GMEV and Charge Master posts in about equal numbers.
Polar bought out Charge Master & CYC if my memory serves me correctly.
Therefore, having a Polar Plus subscription should still give you access to the Charge Master posts !.
Are the original Charge Master posts being replaced then ?.
You say the GMEV membership will be free, but is that only for people in the Greater Manchester area, or to everybody ?.
If this is only available free to people from the Manchester area, this appears crazy to me !.
Surely these customers live close enough to make the round trip with out requiring a charge even with a short range EV ?.
Remember, customers WHO do travel a long way, require the facility to charge or face the prospect of not making it home.
Its not a luxury, its a necessity.
The very people who should be encouraged to travel a long distance to the Trafford Centre and then spend there money ( like myself ) did so knowing they could shop and at the same time collect a charge free from cost.
Just to say it is not completely free of course, as I am paying Polar a sub to use one of their Charge Master posts.
Many other shopping centres and even super markets now are offering this free facility to EV drivers as they have learn it attracts more customers to their stores.
Just at a time when the Trafford Centre needs every bit of custom it can muster up, they decide to go down this route ?.
Shooting themselves in both feet comes to mind !.
I welcome your views on this subject.

The majority of the chargers there are CYC/GMEV points. The one’s at the bottom of the escalators near Boots and the one’s outside near the climbing part are also GMEV. There are 3 units that belong to the Trafford centre are one’s I’m not 100% sure about but I would be pretty sure they will be part of the refresh too as it makes no sense for them to be on a different network. The Trafford Centre would have no say on the pricing being honest. The network has been free for 6 years but it just can’t continue. The membership will be free to everyone and not just residents of GM. It’s not available to sign up to right now but if you sign up to the newsletter on GMEV.co.uk you’ll get all the info. I can appreciate that centre’s may use this as a hook for customers but the cost is coming out of the public purse currently and we just can’t let that continue. These decisions were obviously taken in a pre-COVID world and things could change but the membership prices will be below 25p/35p per kWh.

 

[jaysmith08]

Thank you. Presumably you’re working quite close to the project so it’s very welcome to have you on here to share updates and indeed answer questions.
I wrote to a Wayne Leggett last year and did ask that they have a non-binding public consultation about best places for them. Obviously I know there will be some unfeasible ideas and you have your own constraints (planning, access, ENW) but sometimes existing users can generate some tidbits that maybe overlooked.

I’ve signed up to newsletter. Looking forward to updates.

Not sure what PAYG market rate is for fast charging but 25p/kWh seems a bit high yet reasonable, though not something I would pay for. About the same price as a domestic tariff of c15p would make me use them so let’s see what membership prices are

I am and I do work closely with Wayne. He’s more the installation side at the moment so as I’m an EV owner and I run the events around EV, I should try and manage the comms for the transition. I thought this would be a good place to start I would approach Bury council highways for an update. That budget was announced starting from April so they should be starting to consult with neighbourhood groups and it would make sense to invite drivers in too. 25p is high to be honest but they are ceiling rates agreed by high powers and are likely to be just for PAYG users. Membership prices should be much more in line with household energy prices...we can’t make EV ownership anymore of a rich man’s game than it already is...

 

[loofer]

I am and I do work closely with Wayne. He’s more the installation side at the moment so as I’m an EV owner and I run the events around EV, I should try and manage the comms for the transition. I thought this would be a good place to start I would approach Bury council highways for an update. That budget was announced starting from April so they should be starting to consult with neighbourhood groups and it would make sense to invite drivers in too. 25p is high to be honest but they are ceiling rates agreed by high powers and are likely to be just for PAYG users. Membership prices should be much more in line with household energy prices...we can’t make EV ownership anymore of a rich man’s game than it already is...

Interesting you say Highways department, previously when I’ve asked questioned regarding this I’ve always been routed to Environment department (Chris Horth and Cllr Quinn).

Will drop an email to them, see what they know.