The Greater Manchester Electric Vehicle Scheme (GMEV), led by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), provides access to more than 300 strategically located charging points across all 10 Greater Manchester districts.

Throughout December 2015, these charging points recorded 3,411 charging sessions - almost twice that of December 2014 (1,732). And throughout the whole of 2015 there were almost three times as many charging sessions compared to 2014, with 10,174 in 2014 and 28,744 in 2015.

Collectively, those sessions drew more than 250,000kWh of power: enough to fully charge a 21kWh electric car battery 11,000 times and travel 880,000 miles – that's the same as driving around the Earth 35 times!

The number of new drivers registered with GMEV has also increased from 48 in 2013 – when the scheme launched – to 956 in 2015.

The three most-used charge points over the last 12 months were the Trafford Centre (over 21,000 kWh over 2,700 charging sessions), the John Dalton Building at Manchester Metropolitan University (18,000 kWh over 1,700 sessions), and the multi storey car park at MediaCityUK (12,000 kWh over 1,200 sessions).

"It’s great to see that the GMEV scheme is growing ever more successful, with charging sessions almost trebling and registrations surging over the past year," said Dave Newton, TfGM’s Transport Strategy Director.

“There are so many benefits to using electric or hybrid vehicles in cities and towns. These low emission vehicles are cleaner and quieter than ordinary cars, improving air quality, reducing noise pollution and lowering carbon emissions.

“Crucially, electric vehicles are also cheaper to run, so they can be a great option for commuters and for business vehicle fleets.

“That’s why we’ll continue to work with the government and with industry to ensure that Greater Manchester has a strong electric vehicle infrastructure.”

The £2.1m GMEV scheme was funded by the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and from local funding streams.

It also has private sector partners including NCP, Manchester Central, Manchester Metropolitan University, Salford University and also Intu Trafford Centre, who provide their own charging points to supplement the network.

The GMEV network is operated by Charge Your Car, which manages payments and access to the GMEV scheme on TfGM’s behalf.

For more information on GMEV, visit their website.