The UK now has nearly 59,000 garage technicians qualified to work on electric cars. However, the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) warns that we could face a shortage of 3,000 technicians by 2030.
This gap is expected to grow to 16,000 by 2035, considering the anticipated increase in electric vehicles on the road, unless more technicians are trained.
Currently, the ban on new petrol and diesel cars is set for 2035, but the new Labour Government promised during the election campaign to push the ban back to 2030.
Right now, only about 24% of workshop staff are certified by the IMI to safely handle electric vehicles.
The availability of qualified EV technicians varies significantly by region, and it doesn’t necessarily match where EVs are most common. For example, in London and the South East, where 5.9% of cars are EVs, only 6.1% of technicians are EV trained.
The east of England has the highest rate of trained technicians at 9.5%, followed by the West Midlands and Scotland at 8.2% and 7.9%, respectively.
Kevin Finn, executive chair at the IMI says, “There has been encouraging growth in the number of technicians gaining EV certification so far in 2024”
“However, with the expected reinstatement of the 2030 ICE ban deadline by the new government, the skills gap remains. Automotive businesses urgently need to prioritise training more technicians so that the expected rising number of EV owners can find a local technician qualified to work safely on their vehicle.”
