NBRA are committed to unlocking the EV training that is essential for bodyshops to safeguard staff and enable them to repair EV vehicles properly. Now is the time to train your technicians, VDA, front end staff and most importantly your drivers and recovery truck drivers.
The information below has been widely covered on media platforms and is high level for the whole automotive industry. However, what we need is specific Bodyshop information and transparency over who is actually qualified to repair an EV vehicle. NBRA are working on for its members.
This transparency is required for all levels of capability from ADAS to Alloy structural repairs and will help stop work providers from sending all work, be it ICE, EV, Hydrogen or whatever to its entire network without understanding if they have the capabilities or not.
Using the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) upper scenario on EV adoption, the IMI predicts that the number of TechSafeTM qualified technicians required by 2030 is 90,000. As of 2020 there were 15,400 qualified, and using current forecast trends, by 2030 there could be a shortfall of 35,700 qualified technicians, risking the safety of technicians and undermining confidence that electric vehicles can be serviced, maintained, and repaired by a garage with the right skills. The forecast also indicates that the gap could materialise as soon as 2026 thus risking the government’s 2030 green ambitions.
Faced with the potentially fatal consequences of an inadequately skilled workforce, the IMI is repeating its plea for the government to commit funding to support EV skills training. It is suggesting a £15m boost would play a critical role, contributing towards training for up to 75,000 technicians. In the context of the £1.9bn investment committed by government in the 2020 Spending Review to supporting the transition to zero-emission vehicles for charging infrastructure and consumer incentives, the IMI believes this is a modest figure.
