£15m EV charging deal underway at new ‘cutting-edge’ Stockport community hub

Stockport residents receive their first EV charging hub as part of the ongoing £15m deal to revolutionise electric transport infrastructure in the borough.

The Stockport site is equipped with four charging bays, two ultra-rapid, one rapid and one fast. The hub’s ‘cutting-edge’ ultra-rapid chargers can add around 125 miles of range in a short 15-minute stop.

The new charging hub, located near the Romiley Precinct shopping centre, marks the start of the partnership between Stockport Council and Be.EV. The deal, signed in March last year, put Stockport at the forefront of the EV revolution, with Romiley being the first of 20 installations that Be.EV has agreed to deliver.

As part of the deal, sites across Stockport on Ashbrook Lane, Church Road, Massie Street, Mellor Road and Commercial Road East are all due to go live in the coming months, with Be.EV members able to charge their car for free on launch days.

On Tuesday, Be.EV executives, councillors and the general public gathered to celebrate the launch of the Romiley site, with nearly £800 of charge given away by Be.EV.

The community based charging hub will provide a boost to the local economy and provide EV drivers with reliable and convenient charging whilst they shop at the nearby Sainsbury’s, or visit their local branch of Royal Bank of Scotland.

Romiley is located 10 minutes from the M60, which sees an average of over 83,000 vehicles a day. Stockport has close to 2700 registered electric vehicles, drivers of which will be able to charge their car whilst commuting or visiting the nearby retailers.

Anyone will be able to use the chargers, with Be.EV members able to charge their car at a discounted rate. Local residents will also benefit, with Stockport Council receiving a share of the revenue from the charge points.

The Romiley site sees Stockport join the largest public EV charging network in Greater Manchester, connecting communities across the UK, with Be.EV boasting impressive reliability across the entire network (99.6 per cent operational availability since launch).

Cllr Mark Roberts, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment, commented: “The whole of Stockport, including the council, residents and businesses, must make big changes to reduce our emissions now so that we stop contributing to climate change and providing this new infrastructure will help us on that challenging journey.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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