Shortage Of EV Technicians A Problem In UK, What About M’sia?
Electric cars continue to replace traditional internal combustion engine ones at an accelerated pace, but that momentum might eventually slow down. That’s what Warrantywise CEO, Lawrence Whittaker believes, attributing it to a lack of specialist technicians in addition to other challenges like an insufficient charging infrastructure and other related issues.
Warrantywise is one of UK’s leading used car warranty providers. It offers extended warranties for all makes and models. Whittaker goes on to cite the Institute of Motor Industry (IMI) that issued a report that suggests there’s a substantial skill gap of trained EV technicians.
The IMI’s EV TechSafe certification data shows that 58,800 technicians are qualified to work on EVs, which is 24% of the UK’s automotive workforce. However, there are 1,190,000 electric vehicles on UK roads. IMI’s projections suggest that there will be a shortfall of 3,000 technicians by 2031, that will reach 16,000 by 2035.
But that is only part of the problem, because the location of certified technicians also poses a problem. London and the Southeast have a high proportion of EVs compared to other parts of the country but there doesn’t appear to be a substantial portion of technicians living there that are certified to work on EVs.
The IMI’s data says that only 6.1 and 6.4 percent of technicians respectively are certified to work on EVs there. This disparity shows that there will continue to be a lack of support for electric vehicles for the considerable future. This then begs the question, could we see such a problem in Malaysia?
According to data from data.gov.my, new EV registrations in the country steadily increased these past few years peaking in December 2023. In that month, 2,983 vehicles were registered, which is the highest figure on record.
Since then, EV sales have declined slightly and plateaued with July recording one of the poorer months at 1,884 vehicles. To date, there are 29,556 EVs registered in Malaysia. Compared to the UK, our electric vehicle adoption is still in its infancy, and yet, people aren’t flocking to them.
Proponents of EV adoption will have you believe that since electric vehicles have far fewer moving parts compared to ICE ones, there should be less to go wrong overall. While that might be true to an extent due to the lack of a complicated internal combustion engine, that isn’t the full story.
Electric vehicles still have complicated suspension, air-conditioning, brake system, power steering setup and battery cooling that will eventually need mending a few years down the road. Later, if nothing else breaks down, there’s the issue of battery reliability and degradation.
This will lead to a mountain of problems that cannot be fixed in a suitable time due to a lack of certified technicians. Whittaker believes that the best solution is a coordinated effort in the UK by educational institutions, automotive companies, and governments to quickly train competent personnel.
Unlike the UK we do not have substantial programs that encourage EV technician certification. This could be a problem for EV owners once the warranties expire. Eventually it could discourage consumers from switching to an electric vehicle in the future.
