BT Group has abandoned plans to convert tens of thousands of its old green street cabinets into public EV chargers.
According to The Fast Charge EV newsletter, the communications giant has shifted away from the conversion plans to focus on wi-fi connectivity instead.
Last January, Etc., the start-up and digital incubation arm at BT Group, announced that it would power up its first EV charging unit built from a street cabinet traditionally used to store broadband and phone cabling.
The company said the announcement marked the “first step” in the rollout of new technical trials, exploring the potential to upgrade up to 60,000 cabinets to help meet government sustainability targets and decarbonise the transport system in the UK.
Tom Guy, managing director, Etc. described the new charging solution as a “huge step in bringing EV charging kerbside and exploring how we can address key barriers customers are currently facing”.
Etc. then went on to launch its first EV charger last May in East Lothian. At that time, it said the pilot would focus next on West Yorkshire, with ambitions to scale up to 600 trial sites across the UK
Now, it has been announced that the East Lothian charger was to be the only one, with Etc. working with the council to have it removed next month.
The Fast Charge has seen sight of an email send to Etc.’s evve app users saying the charger and the associated app will shut down on February 14.
A BT Group spokesperson told The Fast Charge earlier this week: “Our EV charging trials have focussed on how we might help address the charging needs EV drivers face across the UK. By adopting a pilot process we have been able to test and explore a great deal about the challenges that many on-street EV drivers are facing with charging and where BT Group can add most value to the UK EV ecosystem. Other emerging needs we’ve identified include the Wi-Fi connectivity challenge surrounding EVs – our pilots will now shift in focus to explore this further.”
