BT Group has axed plans to convert up to 60,000 old green street cabinets into public EV chargers.

Image credit: Jeff Holmes and BT Group

The telecoms giant announced a year ago that it was planning to turn its old green street cabinets into EV charge points. The move would have repurposed tens of thousands cabinets, due to be retired under the rollout of fibre internet, to tackle the current national shortfall in electric vehicle charging.

The first converted cabinet went live in May 2024 in East Lothian and there were plans for the pilot to expand to West Yorkshire next.

But The Fast Charge, a weekly EV newsletter run by Tom Riley, revealed first that the FTSE 100 has shifted away from those plans to focus on WiFi connectivity instead.

Riley, an EV expert and senior communications adviser based in London, added that BT is believed to be working with East Lothian Council to have the charger removed in February.

Since his report, BT Group has emailed all users of its Evve charging app to announce that the EV charger app and the pilot will “cease operations” on 14 February.

A BT Group spokesperson said: “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.”

At the end of December 2024, there were 73,699 electric vehicle charging points across the UK, across 37,011 charging locations and 108,410 connectors, according to Zapmap figures.

A recent report from the National Audit Office (NAO) found that public charger installations in the UK are on track to meet the UK’s target of 300,000 charge points by 2030. However, it warned that major challenges remain on the location of charge points, accessibility and wider barriers such as planning rules.

In December, the Government pledged support to help continue the rollout of charging infrastructure right across the country. Confirmed as a much-awaited consultation on the UK’s zero emission vehicle mandate and 2030 phase-out plans opened, the new measures include simplifying planning rules, publishing the Government’s review to speed up grid connections, and continuing to provide resource funding for local councils up and down the country.