UK heading towards EV servicing skills gap, says warranty boss

The rising number of electric vehicles on the UK’s roads could be hampered by a shortage in EV-certified motor technicians, according to the boss of one of the UK’s leading warranty suppliers.

Lawrence Whittaker, CEO of Warrantywise, says the UK is ‘heading head-first into a skills gap’ as electric vehicle uptake continues to soar.

Latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show that registrations of battery-electric vehicles rose by 154.2 per cent between February 2021 and February 2022.

However, despite this rise, there’s still a deficit in those qualified to maintain and serviceelectric vehicles. Whittaker believes that the Government should invest to eradicate the “ever-widening skills gap”.

“The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) agrees and is calling for a £15m funding injection from the Government to help address the skills gap. The organisation currently reports that of a total workforce of 238,000 motor technicians in the UK, only 15,500 are IMI Techsafe registered and qualified to work on EVs – that’s just 6.5 per cent of the UK’s total motor technician workforce.

“HEVRA, the Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Repair Alliance, which supports the UK’s electric and hybrid vehicle industry with technical backing and training, has just over 180 specialist member garages to help diagnose and fix electric vehicle problems and needs to add another 120 in 2022 alone to keep up with demand.

“While this year they are on track, with 17 new garages opened already in 2022, by 2025 they will need to open a new EV specialist garage every day to keep up. That is also only based on existing cars which are under warranty, not possible future numbers. For us, at Warrantywise, that’s a concern.”

Although electric vehicles have fewer moving parts compared with a traditional combustion-engined vehicle, their complex power train sand high-voltage battery systems mean that specific training is required for technicians to be able to work on them. With the Government’s 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles nearing, it’s little wonder why Ofgem predicts that more than six and a half million households plan to purchase an electric or plug-in hybrid in the next five years.

“This problem isn’t going to go away, and it needs to be tackled now. Not in 2030,” added Whittaker.