Electric cars will soon be a regular sight on our roads after the region won Whitehall cash.
The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities has been awarded £3.6m to set up a network of 300 plug-in points where motorists will be able to charge battery-powered cars. The system is expected to be up and running by October.
Private groups have committed to match the funding. Manchester Electric Car Company has been set up to manage the system and will work to secure the remaining £2.9m needed to deliver and run the project.
Stockport council leader Dave Goddard, who is leading the work for the association, said there was now enough money to start work on the network.
Charging points would be set up across the region, starting in Manchester city centre and key routes such as the Oxford Road. They would then be rolled out other towns and key areas such as the Trafford Centre and Salford’s Media City.
Work will now be done to identify exact locations.
The stations will be available seven hours a day, 360 days a year, and will be able to give batteries a 100-mile range.
Coun Goddard said he was in talks with leading manufacturers, including Peugeot and Nissan, who are developing electric cars. The government is offering motorists incentives of up to £5,000 to buy the vehicles.
Coun Goddard said: “The government money, matched with the £3.5m, means we can get on with installing the charging points. If we can get the charging points in place and the cars begin to come down in price I think its a win-win for motorists and the environment.”
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Its strange how the councils are slashing jobs and services, but can still afford to spend millions on this NON ESSIENTIAL project.
I doubt there are 300 cars to use this expensive commodity
3.6 million pounds?
How about re-routing that to saving frontline jobs? This is the exact kind of waste I get so irritated and frustrated about.
And that's *before* we get to the £5k subsidy per car we're giving car manufactures.
I could maybe understand if the UK switching to electric cars would have a major positive environmental impact, but it won't! Money down the pan, money that could be used elsewhere.
Electric cars will be the future, the cost of running petrol based vehicles will become more and more expensive. The money is coming from central govt for this, in an attempt to put part of the infrastructure in place. Joe egg is probabaly correct in that there are very few vechiles around locally at present, but expect that to increase, with incentives to buy these vehicles. Be interested to know how long it takes to charge up for 100 miles, probably a lot longer than the few minutes it takes to fill the tank up.
Do you mean 7 days a week? It says 7 hours a day in your article!
I would be more inclined to get an electric or hybrid for my next car next year, as a result of wider availability of charging points. Tose cynical about this should take a look at the escalating price of petrol ...
Who pays for the electric used? And will the ratepayers of manchester earn any income from these electric points.
Electric cars won't really become popular until the batteries can be removed, to be charged in the home overnight.
I wouldn't want to drive around with the 'charge left indicator' close to zero, trying to find a vacant charging point.
I also fear these charging points could quite easily be seen as a potential source of easy profit by the council/company involved.
The electric car technology has been in place for over 20 years but was stopped by the Oil Industry
Source: "Who Killed the Electric Car"
Oh look hands rubbing together from fatcat councillers thinking of making a quick buck on how to expliot electric car users......
If you have an Electric powered car stay out of any big city use public transport its better you will not get ripped off or explioted.
How predicatably ironic that this would be a London decision. The very first transport decision made by the ConDem(n)s was to axe the "KickStart" programme. The bid in this region would have cost £1.5m and given improved bus services to access employment and services to low car-ownership areas of Failsworth, Oldham, Ashton, Denton, Salford and Wigan. But after being signed and sealed, the new regime scrapped it, saving just half a million pounds. The other million had already been spent/committed.
£3.6 million of public money (doesn't matter whether its local or national government money - it still all comes from taxpayers!) plus matching funding from the private sector, plus £2.9 million still needed to deliver and run the project.
That's almost exactly £10 million to provide charging points (an extension lead and a meter - presumably) for just 300 electric cars.
£33,000 PER CAR!!!!!!
Good to see we're getting our accustomed level of value for money from the council.
Stop whining for once - this is money well spent.
Before long there will be a significant chunk of motorists priced out of driving altogether. Electrically powered vehicles will be the future, and will also be more ecologically sound.
Wind the clock back 10,000 years and some people would be protesting against money being invested a new project called the 'wheel'.
"The stations will be available seven hours a day, 360 days a year,"
What happens if one needs a charge during the 13 hours of the day or on the 5 or 6 days each year when the facility is not available?
How much will they charge for a charge?
Electric vehicles could be cleaner if the source of electricity was cleaner. Utilities are looking to nuclear plants as a clean option. But no one wants to talk about what they will do the radio-active waste.
And just look at the waste from the depleted batteries etc,and all the carbon that has acumulated manufacturing the batteries and electric motors.
How stupid! How do we generate electricity? By burning fossil fuels! No saving there then!
How many plugs could you buy for £3.6 million !
Installing part time electricity charging stations for cars on the premise of reducing Co2 emissions is as futile as the argument that you have to spend your way out of debt by the Labour Party.
Far better to have hydrogen powered cars instead of electric. Electric gives so little mileage and takes forever for a charge. Hydrogen would be fueled quickly and the by-product is H2O