Manchester GMEV to end free charging

[HenryT]

It seems the free network offered by GMEV is to be taken over by Amey and will become chargeable.

Amey state "Our aim is to enable Greater Manchester to develop into one of the largest and greenest regional economies in Europe."

Shame its not 'green' enough as a free service then.

Amey to operate Greater Manchester EV charging network - Zap-Map

 

[Durzel]

If it's free, who is paying for it?

 

[NewbieT]

Another ‘free’ network that unsurprisingly isn’t very reliable and needs investment.

Given Octopus are providing the energy for Be.EV, Ionity and a huge chunk of the charge point suppliers I hope they can expand their Juice card.

 

[Gatsojon]

That's a shame. Someone must have let the cat out of the bag!

 

[HenryT]

If it's free, who is paying for it?

I do, as a Manchester ratepayer.

I don't imagine my council tax will be reducing anytime soon...

 

[Mr H]

Hopefully they’ll get it working properly. The one near me gives a heady 4kw

 

[HenryT]

Just had the email confirming the free charging currently offered in the Be.EV will end 1st October.

This is an important email to advise you that the free charging subsidy on the Be.EV network will come to an end on Friday 1st October 2021 as agreed with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM). We know this may come as a disappointment to many of you – but the tariff will provide a more sustainable network across all 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester. The good news however is that all Be.EV members will benefit from a discounted rate:



From 1st October, the tariffs on the Be.EV network will be as follows:

Rapid Chargers:

· £0.35/kWh Pay As You Go (PAYG)*

· £0.32/kWh Be.EV member rate using Be.EV membership card or App

Fast Chargers:

· £0.25/kWh Pay As You Go (PAYG)*

· £0.22/kWh Be.EV member rate using your Be.EV membership card or App

* Pay As You Go rate applies when paying by Contactless or webpay.

All rates are inclusive of VAT at 20% following the HMRC ruling in May 2021.

 

[Jason71]

Just had the email confirming the free charging currently offered in the Be.EV will end 1st October.

I know based on your previous posts that you are not on board with this but the problem with free charging is that:
a) It encourages people to use it who already have home/work charging and PHEV's and thus clogs up the chargers for those who really need them
b) It discourages others from installing more chargers since who wants to compete with free.

So while it might be a nice perk for a few, big picture is getting rid of it will lead to more chargers and more availability for those who need them which has to be a good thing right?

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

Free charging while superficially great is actually one of the worst ideas, be that as supermarkets, town centres etc. Before you hit "disagree" , and I'm with Jason, it just drives people to use them, not because they need them, but because they can save a few quid, or because the bay is a foot wider or 40 paces closer to the entrance to where they are going.

Ask yourself this simple question, when you NEED to charge, would you prefer to find an available charger that cost as little as a £1 connection fee (which is all they introduced near me) or to see all the chargers occupied by people who don't need to charge but are freeloading? That £1 made the difference at my local railway station between them all being used to hardly any being used. I also used to drive to Manchester and arrive at the car park after 8:30 and all the charging bays were full, it's got to be better to have available ones for those that have travelled for maybe 2 hours to work in Manchester to be able to charge than give free charging to the locals?

Instead of free, I'd want working, a decent rate, and enforced parking rules. Now we can't always find the latter, but while we have the former then the latter will never be affordable.

 

[Durzel]

Can't really argue with that. I guess from the perspective of e.g. Tesco with the VW/Podpoint units, they would want it to be as frictionless as possible. As soon as you start adding payments, even nominal ones, then you're into contactless tech being required, etc.

I'm sortof playing Devils Advocate with this because I'd be happy enough to pay £1 connection charge if it meant the spaces were less saturated.

 

[MrBadger]

I guess from the perspective of e.g. Tesco with the VW/Podpoint units, they would want it to be as frictionless as possible. As soon as you start adding payments, even nominal ones, then you're into contactless tech being required, etc.

The Tesco VW/Podpoint still requires app access to confirm even though free. If you don't confirm within iirc 15 minutes, it will stop the charge. So still pretty much as much input needed as if payment was needed.

 

[leicaben]

They did say that they would be chargeable by the end of this year so its not unexpected....

The GM chargers have become a bit of a pain in the past few months tbh.

Its a fair point that free charging might not be the most efficient way to offer charging points. The amount of times I've been pretty desperate for a charge I'd happily pay for, to see a hybrid to be left in a bay all the working day when it would be charged in an hour on the slow chargers has been really frustrating.

Availability in South GM and Cheshire for any sort of public charger is dreadful, be it SuC or others. There are no non SuC rapid chargers anywhere until the midlands until that place on Chester Road opens in Stretford.

 

[HenryT]

I know based on your previous posts that you are not on board with this but the problem with free charging is that:
a) It encourages people to use it who already have home/work charging and PHEV's and thus clogs up the chargers for those who really need them
b) It discourages others from installing more chargers since who wants to compete with free.

So while it might be a nice perk for a few, big picture is getting rid of it will lead to more chargers and more availability for those who need them which has to be a good thing right?

I think you may have misread my previous comments Jason - I'm not against paying for charging, but did make the point that the 'free' charging provided the Manchester set up was actually paid for (indirectly, of course) via council tax. Agree entirely that a fair price, which these appear to be, works for everyone's advantage.

I posted the email content for information, not as a criticism of what they are doing.

 

[Jason71]

I think you may have misread my previous comments Jason - I'm not against paying for charging, but did make the point that the 'free' charging provided the Manchester set up was actually paid for (indirectly, of course) via council tax. Agree entirely that a fair price, which these appear to be, works for everyone's advantage.

I posted the email content for information, not as a criticism of what they are doing.

I guess so. I took your comment "Shame its not 'green' enough as a free service." as an indication you liked it being free.