A new report commissioned by the Institute of the Motor Industry argues that the UK’s economy could be boosted by around £51 billion a year if the government was to make strategic investments into the country’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure and into relevant workforce training, according to reports.
Relevant workforce training in this case refers to the training of automotive technicians, as the country is currently facing a shortage of technicians qualified/capable of working with emerging automotive technologies and modalities. The report also notes that up to 320,000 new jobs could be created by the aforementioned strategic investments.
The author of the report, Professor Jim Saker of Loughborough University, commented: “The UK by the nature of its size and geography has a natural advantage in the rapid adoption of vehicles with the new power train technologies, but it is dependent on Government investment to pump prime this initiative.”
“Without proper regulation a skills gap will emerge with only a limited number of technicians working in the franchised sector being able to service and repair new technology vehicles. If this trend is found to be true then it is likely that the independent sector of the retail automotive sector will decline. This will mean that the market will fail to open up and develop to the benefit of the UK economy.”
Green Car Congress provides the details:
Electric vehicles are powered by 600 volt battery units and pose a serious danger of death to untrained personnel. 81% of independent garages are struggling to recruit highly skilled technicians and the UK retail motor industry is failing to attract young people into technical roles; unless a proactive strategy is undertaken the UK will not be able to support the growth of future car technology safely. Saker suggests the government make it illegal for untrained technicians to work on electric and hybrid vehicles with a license to practice in order to drive investment in the necessary training. With only 1,000 technicians in the UK currently qualified with a Level 4 in Electric and Hybrid Car Maintenance, the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) believes it is likely that the potential benefits to the UK economy from this development will not be realized.
The report is scheduled to be presented to a cross-party group of MPs on April 13th by Professor Jim Saker and Institute of the Motor Industry CEO Steve Nash.