BT cancels EV charging point scheme by installing only one

BT has abandoned its plans to convert Green Street cabinets into electric vehicle (EV) charging points, having initially said it was aiming to complete just one of the 60,000 conversions.

The metal cases seen on UK streets are commonly used for phone and broadband cables.

when it Project announced in January 2024BT said the re-use of the cabinets was a “unique opportunity” to address a “major barrier” for people moving away from petrol and diesel cars.

However, this plan has now been canceled with the company saying that it will instead focus on “the Wi-Fi connectivity challenge around EVs”.

“It’s disappointing it’s not going ahead,” Stuart Mason of automotive website The Car Expert told BBC News.

“The good news we’re seeing in the industry is that the overall rollout of electric charging points is moving faster than predicted a few years ago,” he said.

However, he said the majority of charging points are in busy areas rather than on roads near people’s homes, meaning BT’s decision was still a shock.

Mr Mason welcomed its pledge to improve Wi-Fi infrastructure around EV charging points.

“It’s very frustrating when you go to a charging point, you go to log into the app… and you can’t get a connection because you’re buried in a multi-storey car park somewhere and there’s no signal.” He said.

“If BT can make a dent in that that would be really good.”

As BT upgrades to fiber broadband, many green cabinets are coming to the end of their lifespan.

But only one of them, in East Lothian, was actually converted into a public charging point.

According to this it will now be closed in February fast charge Newsletter, which broke the story.

The charger currently appears as “out of order” on the Eve Charge app, which shows EV charger locations in the UK.

East Lothian Council has been contacted for comment.

A spokesperson for BT Group said the trial “revealed a lot about the challenges that many on-street EV drivers are facing with charging and where BT Group sees the most value in the UK EV ecosystem.” Can add.”

He added: “Other emerging needs we have identified include the Wi-Fi connectivity challenge associated with EVs – our pilot will now focus on further addressing this.”

The government has set a target of 300,000 public charging points by 2030.

Its own figures show there are 73,334 public charging devices in the UK – a 37% increase on a year ago.

According to the EV charging company, about a third of these are in Greater London zapmap,

The Department for Transport responded to BT’s decision by saying that 2024 was “a record-breaking year for EV infrastructure”, with almost 20,000 EV charging points added in the last 12 months.

“It comes with £6 billion of private investment in the pipeline by 2030, helping EV owners drive with confidence that they will never be too far from a chargepoint,” it said in a statement.

However, the car industry has expressed concerns about the speed with which the UK is attempting to transition to EVs.

Ford said in November 2024 The government’s timetable to move away from internal combustion engine cars won’t work without additional financial incentives.

The following month the government began consultations with the automotive and charging industries on phasing out petrol and diesel cars.

It said it has invested £2.3 billion in the switch to EVs, as it re-emphasised its target to stop selling new fossil fuel-powered cars by 2030.