Avison Young appointed by Be.EV to find sites for rapid expansion of region’s public EV charging network.

Electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure provider, Be.EV has appointed Avison Young to launch its search for more charging point sites across Greater Manchester in a critical step to progressing the region’s mission to cut carbon emissions.

Avison Young will be consulting with public sector bodies, private landlords, developers and other commercial organisations to identify sites right across the 10 boroughs to address the current shortfall in charging facilities.

With the UK government’s commitment to ending the sale of petrol and diesel-powered cars by 2030, a rapid scale up in infrastructure is needed for the 400,000 EVs currently on UK roads, which is projected to rise to 10.6m by the end of the decade.

Many EV owners install charge points at their own homes, however, a third of households in the UK have no off-street parking. In urban settings like the towns of Greater Manchester, this figure rises to 60%, and the North West currently has one of the country's lowest numbers of EV chargers per 100,000 of population, creating a significant barrier to EV uptake by private households or fleets.

In 2019, Be.EV was appointed by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to upgrade and operate its existing network of public charge points, the largest in the regions, and expand it dramatically. This expansion of the Be.EV network is now gathering pace, with the team looking to almost double the number of charging points by the end of 2021.

Chris Cheap, principal and managing director at Avison Young in Manchester, said: “We are at a critical stage in the global battle against climate change and the introduction of more electric vehicles is pivotal to Greater Manchester achieving its goal of being carbon-neutral by 2038.

“Our new partnership with Be.EV presents an exciting opportunity to help future-proof our city region and make electric vehicle ownership a more realistic proposition, especially for those of us with limited access to off-street parking. Be.EV offer an exciting and innovative commercial model which we believe will speak effectively to a variety of real estate audiences. We are looking at freehold and leasehold opportunities across greater Manchester and we encourage anyone who thinks they have viable opportunities, or would like to learn more about Be.EV, to get in touch.”

Asif Ghafoor, CEO at Be.EV, added: “The Be.EV network is EV charging of the region for the region. We’re a local business with a mission: to rapidly scale up access to public charging infrastructure across the North and accelerate the transition to cleaner, greener transport. The partnership with Avison Young will help us find suitable sites faster and get more chargers in the ground.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for landowners and developers to make a genuine difference in their communities and become part of something bigger: a ready-made regional network serving a community of over 4000 members (and counting). At Be.EV, we have the capabilities to do all the heavy lifting of putting the right infrastructure in place, as well as the know-how to get it right. We look forward to all the new site opportunities AY will help us unlock and can’t wait to see EV use in the region take off as public charging becomes more and more effortless.”

Landowners looking to find out more information, should contact Avison Young’s Manchester office.