A new survey of 500 UK electricians has found that 99% of electricians understood there to be major risks associated with electrical vehicle charging work and only 28% have received specific training
The skills organisation City and Guilds has found in a recent survey that 99% of electricians believe there are major risks with electrical vehicle(EV) charging installations and only 28% have undertaken specific EV charge point training.
The UK is aiming to meet EV charging targets by 2030 and purchases of the vehicles are increasing.
With 73% of respondents likely to seek work in installing or repairing EV charge points in the next 12 months, the lack of training and confidence demonstrates a clear risk unless companies ensure their workforce has the necessary training, skills, knowledge and experience to undertake this work safely.
A significant lack of appropriate training and skills could be leading to unsafe installations of EV chargers
EV chargers are becoming more widespread and are being installed in homes, streets and commercial locations.
This new research is supported by findings from CENEX and OZEV (compiled for the Department for Transport) which reported that nearly a fifth (18%) of new at home charge point installations installed as part of the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) had dangerous or potentially dangerous issues, and only 32% were labelled as satisfactory.
Insufficient training undermines the Government’s targets for EV charging point installation
David Phillips, managing director at City & Guilds, commented: “The transition from petrol and diesel vehicles to EV ownership is a critical part of reducing global carbon emissions.
“But the speed of this transition is going to place huge pressure on those tasked with developing the new infrastructure of charging points required, particularly with just 28% of the UK’s current electricians trained to deliver it.
“With the government setting a new target to increase the number of electric car chargers ten-fold to 300,000 by 2030, electricians will need to rapidly upskill to safely manage the workload – but currently the training just isn’t available nationally and there isn’t an impetus to undertake it.
“We need industry to recognise this safety issue and ensure these EV charging points are installed in a way that is standardised and safe, to avoid a potential disaster in the near future.”
