Bury Council signs £9m deal with Be.EV to expand EV charging

Bury Council has appointed EV charging network Be.EV to install more than 30 new EV charging points in a deal worth upwards of £9m.

There are currently 26 publicly available charging points across Bury, and the council wants to double this number over the next two years to boost the borough’s rapid charging provision and keep up with demand.

The deal with Be.EV will mean improved access to charging across the community, with the chargers spread across over 20 public sites.

As well as cleaner air, the Council residents will also benefit from a rental income from the charge points.

This new infrastructure will be part of the Be.EV public charging network – the largest across the North West and with a rapidly expanding national footprint – connecting communities across the North of England and boasting impressive reliability (99.6% operational availability across the entire network).

Most of the chargers will be rapid or ultra-rapid, which can charge a typical EV to 80% in 20 minutes to an hour, compared to 4-6 hours on a 7kW fast charger. The new points will be primarily in convenient and easily accessible destination areas such as town centre car parks.

Be.EV is Transport for Greater Manchester’s preferred charging partner, therefore drivers will already be familiar with their chargers in Bury and around GM.

Councillor Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment, climate change and operations, said: “The council is committed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2038. Transport emissions make up a significant amount of our greenhouse gas emissions, therefore we need to make the transition to cleaner transport.

“Electric vehicles can form part of this new picture. But, to help residents who want to make this switch, we need to increase the charging infrastructure so they feel confident they can recharge their vehicles easily.

“This is a concessionary contract, so all up-front installation and operating costs are being undertaken by Be.EV, and we will also receive a rental income. We will be working to get the chargers in the ground as soon as possible, certainly later this year.”

Asif Ghafoor, CEO and co-founder of Be.EV said: “We’re excited to be further expanding our charging network within Bury.

“Bury Council is a great example of a progressive local authority — helping to accelerate the UK’s EV transition. They are playing a vital role in supporting the early uptake of EVs in their borough by scaling the charging network to make electric cars accessible for all.

“The new deal will help us further expand our reliable network of EV chargers to Bury residents, and we want other councils to sit up and take notice of this gold standard development.”