A new report Charging Forward to 2030 by RECHARGE UK, which is the EV arm of the REA (Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology) highlights the need to rapidly improve grid connections and address the skills gap.

RECHARGE UK believe a key issue across the EV industry going forward will be a lack of skilled professionals who are able to install and maintain charging infrastructure or maintain and repair electric vehicles.

As the charging industry is expected to increase chargepoint numbers from over 40,000 charge points today to the Government’s target of 300,000 by 2030, the limited skills pool will be severely under-resourced to manage the rising number of charge point installations and charge point manufacturing.

Matthew Adams, Transport Policy Manager the REA said: “With the announcement that Tata have agreed to invest £4bn in the UK to build a new gigafactory providing up to 4,000 direct jobs, the recommendations in this report need to be implemented as soon as possible. EV infrastructure from chargepoints to gigafactories must be prioritised in grid connection queues to maximise EV availability and adoption, which will realise the greatest carbon savings.

“By 2030 there is expected to be a shortfall of 25,100 EV-trained technicians. The Government should reform the Apprenticeship Levy so that a portion of unspent Levy funds could go toward priority training areas, including electrification, decarbonisation and digitalisation.”

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