EV technician shortage could zap the future of UK’s green cars

The situation could get way worse by the middle of the next decade.

Photo by: Warrantywise

By: Angel Sergeev

Aug 28, 2024 at 3:11am ET

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The UK’s journey towards an electric future might be hitting a pothole. Lawrence Whittaker, CEO of the warranty giant Warrantywise, is waving the red flag about a looming crisis in the electric vehicle industry in Britain – and it’s not about the lack of charging stations or high insurance rates. Nope, this time, it’s all about the people who are supposed to keep those sleek, silent machines on the road: EV technicians. Or rather, the lack thereof.

Whittaker’s alarm bells started ringing (again) after the Institute of Motor Industry (IMI) released a report that could make any EV owner wince. According to the IMI, there are only about 58,800 technicians in the UK qualified to work on electric vehicles. That’s a mere 24 per cent of the automotive workforce. For the mathematically inclined, that’s roughly one EV tech for every 20 fully electric cars out there. And with over 1.19 million EVs already zipping around the UK, the maths doesn’t exactly add up in favour of fast and affordable repairs.

But wait, it gets worse. The IMI predicts that by 2031, the country will be short by 3,000 EV technicians, and by 2035, that gap could balloon to a staggering 16,000. What does this mean for the average EV driver? Well, think longer repair times, higher costs, and a lot more headaches. Or as Whittaker puts it, “safety risks, delayed repairs, and stunted growth in the EV industry.”

And if you’re in Northern Ireland, you might want to sit down for this. The region boasts the lowest percentage of EV-qualified technicians – just 3.7 per cent of the total workforce. Compare that to the East of England’s relatively generous 9.5 per cent, and it’s clear that EV owners in some areas might be in for a rude awakening.

The situation is so dire that Whittaker has taken to the rooftops (figuratively speaking) to shout about the need for more investment in training programmes. He’s calling for a coordinated effort from educational institutions, automotive companies, and the government to crank out more EV technicians before the shortage turns into a full-blown crisis.