BT is looking at getting into the EV charging business by trialling a plan to instal charge points alongside the kerbside cabinets used for telecoms connections.

“Our new charging solution is a huge step in bringing EV charging kerbside and exploring how we can address key barriers customers are currently facing,” says Tom Guy, managing director of Etc –  BT’s  startup and digital incubation arm.

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Through the trials, Etc will scope a range of different technical, commercial and operational considerations with bringing this EV charge point network online, including:

Technical – cabinet location, power availability, customer accessibility, digital customer experience and engineering considerations
Civil planning – location, local council engagement, permissions and physical accessibility
Commercial – public funding options, private investment, partnership, and wider financial modelling to establish a route to commercial benefit for the Group
Operational – as a dedicated BT Group venture or in partnership with others.
The charging solution works by retrofitting the cabinets with a device that enables renewable energy to be shared to a charge point alongside the existing broadband service with no need to create a new power connection. 

EV charging can be deployed to cabinets that are in-use for current copper broadband services, or in those due for retirement, depending on the space and power available to the unit. 

Once the cabinet is no longer needed for broadband, as nationwide full fibre rollout progresses, the broadband equipment is recycled, and additional EV charge points can be added. This allows re-use of existing infrastructure while deploying more charge points at pace.

BT has 60,000 kerbside cabinets and the number of EV chargers in the UK is currently 53,906. The government aims to have 300,000 charging points by 2030.