Etc., the startup and digital incubation arm of the British multinational telecommunications company BT Group, has announced that it will power up its first electric vehicle (EV) charging unit built from a street cabinet traditionally used to store broadband and phone cabling.

The announcement, made in conjunction with its presence at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas next week, marks 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 decarbonize the transport system in the UK. Although it is in the early development stages, the initiative was awarded a CES Innovation Honoree for 2024 for outstanding design and engineering.

The trials will explore how the solution could be scaled to address the lack of chargers on UK roads. With new BT Group research showing that 38% of drivers in the UK would already own an EV if public charging was less of a challenge, and with only 53,000 public EV charge points currently on UK roads, the pilot marks an important step in the journey to net-zero. Etc. says its first installation location will be in East Lothian, Scotland, with further pilots to roll out across the UK in the coming months.

“Our new charging solution is a huge step in bringing EV charging curbside and exploring how we can address key barriers customers are currently facing,” said Tom Guy, CEO of BT Group. “Working closely with local councils in Scotland and more widely across the UK, we are at a critical stage of our journey in tackling a very real customer problem that sits at the heart of our wider purpose to connect for good. This is a key step in our mission to build products and services right now that work for the future, with positive transformation at the heart.”

While the UK Government’s ambitions are to increase the number of public charge points from 53,000 today to 300,000 by 2030, access to charging is already creating a significant barrier to EV purchases for many consumers. BT Group’s recent research found that 60% of people think the UK’s EV charging infrastructure is inadequate, with 78% of gasoline and diesel drivers saying a lack of convenient EV charging is a barrier to owning an EV.

While the Etc. pilot program is being rolled out in the UK, EV charging infrastructure is a global challenge, according to the company. For example, it says the U.S. has only 160,000 public EV chargers currently installed to serve over 2.4 million electric vehicles.

The charging solution works by retrofitting utility 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 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 fiber rollout progresses, the broadband equipment is recycled, and additional EV charge points can be added. This allows the re-use of existing infrastructure while quickly deploying more charge points.