Issue - meetings

A report updating Members on the proposal to introduce a tariff on the Greater Manchester Electric Vehicle (GMEV) charging network from early 2020.

Simon Warburton, Transport Strategy Director for TfGM introduced a report updating Members on the proposal to introduce a tariff on the Greater Manchester Electric Vehicle (GMEV) charging network from early 2020.

The Greater Manchester Taxi Trade Coalition circulated a letter to members of the Committee that set out their concerns on proposals to introduce a tariff on the Greater Manchester Electric Vehicle (GMEV) network from early 2020.  

Representatives from the sector were present at the meeting to listen to discussions around issues raised. 

GMEV was established in 2012 and was grant funded by Central Government.  The scheme was managed by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and subsequently rolled out and managed through a contract with a provider.  Current arrangements required customers to either register for a membership card for an annual fee of £20 that was payable to a third party who operated the network, or free use of a mobile app.   Since the installation of the network, TfGM had not charged customers to charge their vehicles. 

High growth in GMEV usage had continued since 2016 and it was anticipated that this would continue to grow over the next few years.   The wider pressures on Levy funded transport budget and the increased use of the infrastructure meant that it was financially unsustainable to continue to provide this service free of charge.

The introduction of an Electric Vehicle charging tariff would assist with securing a long- term revenue stream to assist in funding the costs associated with a publically owned EV charging infrastructure in GM.  Over the past year, an extensive consultation exercise had been undertaken on the re-let of the contract and the expansion of the existing GMEV network.

With reference to the concerns set out by representatives from the Greater Manchester Taxi Trade Coalition, it was stressed that it remained TfGM’s intention to put in place a membership model for the GMEV system that would be attractive to commercial users.  This model had not yet been designed but it was envisaged that this would allow regular commercial users to benefit from a degree of tariff relief.   It was hoped that by November 2019, GMCA would have been closer to a finalised position on the GM Clean Air Plan.   As of today, no confirmation on funding had been received, however, it was envisaged that grant funding would be available to support the shift towards broader vehicle change. 

Members expressed a variety of concerns regarding the introduction of a tariff on the Greater Manchester Electric Vehicle (GMEV) charging network from early 2020.

Members queried the market research undertaken to develop the tariff structure, which they felt only incorporated consultation with a very small percentage of electric vehicle owners.  It was clarified that market research for both tariffing and service had included a cross section of the public.  This had deliberately included non- EV owners as they were the future target market for the GM Clean Air plan.    In addition, other supporting information from existing user data had been included. 

Members  ...  view the full minutes text for item 178