Less than a third of electricians are trained to install EV chargers

A new study has revealed that only 28% of working electricians have received specific training for the installation of electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints.

City & Guilds, the skills development organisation, is calling on industry to ensure all those working on EV charging point installations are equipped with the skills they need to install chargers.

Its research found that 99% of respondents understood there to be major risks associated with electrical vehicle charging work. Despite the dangers, only 28% of respondents said they have so far undertaken specific electrical vehicle charge point training. With the vast majority (73%) of respondents likely to seek work in installing or repairing EV charge points in the next 12 months.

David Phillips, managing director at City & Guilds, said: “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.”

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.