UK telco giant BT has quietly canceled its plans to convert its old street cabinets into electric vehicle (EV) charging points.

The company only installed one such EV charging point, doing so less than a year ago in East Lothian, Scotland.

BT EV charging point
The carrier will remove its only EV charging point next month – BT Group

At the time, BT even outlined ambitions to extend its pilot to convert 600 of its obsolete green street cabinets into EV charging points, and as many as up to 60,000 across the UK in the future.

The carrier noted that the repurposing of the existing street furniture was expected to help address the lack of chargers on UK roads, with this number currently standing at just 53,000.

By 2030, the UK government wants to increase this figure to 300,000.

However, as reported by Fast Charge this week, the cabinet in East Lothian will be the first and only such installation.

The publication reports that BT has contacted the local council to have the charging point removed next month.

On Wednesday (January 15) this week, BT emailed users of 'evve,' the app that was required to use the charge point.

In the email, BT confirmed that the evve app pilot will cease operations on February 14, 2025, noting that users can still use the app until that date.

BT told the Fast Charge that the trials allowed it to understand the challenges that EV drivers face in the UK.

That said, the company's statement to the publication also didn't specify a reason for the termination of the scheme, just that future pilots will explore how WiFi connectivity can support the challenge surrounding EVs.

“Our EV charging trials have focused 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 EV’s - our pilots will now shift in focus to explore this further. This is in line with BT Group’s core focus on connectivity," said a BT Group spokesperson in a statement to DCD.

BT first detailed its EV charging point plans in January of last year.