U.K. Industry Group Says More EV Technicians Needed

The U.K. urgently needs to overcome a shortage of qualified technicians or government investment in the next generation of electric vehicles is likely to fail, the Institute of the Motor Industry is warning.

CEO Steve Nash says government research shows 60% of U.K. consumers are thinking about buying an electric or hybrid vehicle in the next two years and the government is promising to spend £600 million ($904 million) to turn this public interest into sales of EVs.

However, only 1,000 vehicle technicians are qualified to work on EVs in the U.K. and there are only 1,000 more in training who will graduate by 2018.

Speaking at an international motor industry event focusing on electric cars in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Nash says with the government goal of all new cars in Britain being electric by 2040 the current rate of skills development will not meet consumer demand.

“For Britain to be a world leader in electric and hybrid cars, we urgently need more qualified technicians,” he says in a statement reporting the event. “We face a severe shortage of skills and it will hurt our economy.  If the skills are not in place when consumer demand begins to surge, drivers will be paying higher prices to keep their cars on the road.”

IMI wants technicians to be licensed to protect employers’ investment in the skills necessary to maintain the next generation of vehicles in a sector that now is unregulated.

Nash told the Kuala Lumpur meeting that Malaysia has the potential to become a regional training hub for EVs, “as we see it as being ahead of others in the region in the area of EV adoption,” he is quoted as saying by the Malaysian government’s Bernama news agency.

IMI is working with the Malaysian government to provide training support across a network of community colleges, focusing on electric and hybrid vehicles, in line with the aim of making the nation a regional EEV hub.

There are 264 EEV-trained technicians in Malaysia and as the EV sector matures, Nash says more are needed as it involves working on high-voltage electrical systems and unqualified staff would face potentially fatal consequences.