RECHARGE UK calls for new government to put renewed focus on skills
Electric vehicle (EV) trade group RECHARGE UK has called on the new government to put a renewed focus on skills.
Specifically, the group wants to see radical changes to skills and training courses across the UK.
This builds upon recommendations set out in the group’s report ‘Harnessing the skills opportunities of a recharged electric vehicle sector’ which explores how the UK can equip its workforce for the exciting opportunities emerging in the EV sector.
RECHARGE UK is the EV arm of the REA (Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology). The report was produced in association with Curzon Consulting.
Ahead of the General Election, Labour said it would provide Technical Excellence Colleges which would work with businesses, trade unions and local government to provide young people with better job opportunities and the highly trained workforce local communities need in this changing world.
The government has now confirmed that it will establish a body to be known as Skills England, and reform the Apprenticeship Levy.
A briefing document states that Skills England will ‘bring together businesses, providers, unions, mayoral combined authorities and government to ensure we have the highly trained workforce that England needs’.
RECHARGE UK’s report calls for Centres of Excellence for Net Zero Skills which would see local employers sponsor courses at these sites, located in existing colleges and schools in the heart of communities. Providing additional funding, and resources to these education establishments. It would provide a clear and obvious pathway for post 19 education, where college and university graduates could specialise in net zero skills such as chargepoint installation and maintenance.
The REA’s Transport Policy Manager Matthew Adams said
We welcome the engagement Labour had with our skills report when they were in opposition. I hope that we can continue to have a strong relationship to deliver the change the industry needs to accelerate the deployment of charging infrastructure across the UK. The launch this week of Skills England prioritising the skills the UK needs going forward is a good start and I hope takes on some of our recommendations and recognises the challenges for each part of the EV sector from manufacturers, to installers and charge point operators (CPOs) to software providers and local authorities and technicians.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC) estimate that by 2030, between 80,000- 100,000 jobs[1] could be created by electric vehicle and battery manufacturing in the UK. Meanwhile we are seeing a decline in the number of people qualified to operate and install electrical machinery. Since 2018 the number of people with electro technical skills has fallen by 19% from 342,000 in 2018/19 to 276,000 ± 10,000 in 2023[2].
Research by Curzon Consulting for RECHARGE UK’s report offers a unique insight into current and future recruitment concerns by charge point operators (CPOs). Of those CPOs interviewed by Curzon, 75% of CPOs expressed the view that the current skills gap was “significant” to “very significant”. Recruitment is predominantly from outside the EV industry and 25% of CPOs stated that it took them two months to fill vacancies, with 42% experiencing a lag of three months or longer to fill EV electrician roles.
Almost 40% of those surveyed also said that skills shortages were impacted by Geography. This highlights that a full national strategy like a Centres for Excellence programme could be beneficial in addressing the growing demand for electrical skills across the country.
Most pressingly all CPOs surveyed said that demand for electricians would rise significantly in future and 48% said that demand would rise beyond what the current workforce could support.
Natalia Sokolova, Partner, Curzon Consulting, commented:
With the establishment of Skills England and the reform of the Apprenticeship Levy, we are setting the stage to bring together businesses, providers, unions, and government bodies to build a highly trained workforce. Our research evidences that we must go even further to create Centres of Excellence for Net Zero Skills. The time to act is now
The report can be viewed here – https://www.r-e-a.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Harnessing_the_skills_Report-D2_Low-Res.pdf
[1] https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/CCC-A-Net-Zero-Workforce-Web.pdf
[2] https://www.the-esp.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/TESP-2023-LMI-Refresh-879.pdf
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Can charging supply keep pace with electric vehicle demand?
Net-zero carbon emissions by 2050…
Electric vehicles (EVs) are increasingly heralded by nations across the globe as a vital part of the net-zero transition to reduce emissions, and the key technology for decarbonising transportation, which accounts for 13% of emissions globally. But whilst vehicle sales have been booming in recent years, the installation of charging networks that underpin EV usage are trailing dangerously behind. The extent of this lag is particularly concerning in the United Kingdom (UK) where it poses a fundamental threat not just to the continued growth of the EV market, which by the end of 2023 is projected to be worth £16bn, but it threatens any plans for the UK to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
A global EV boom driven by three central influences
Such has been the drive to increase the uptake of EVs, that global sales of Battery EVs (BEVs) and Plug-In Hybrid EVs (PHEV) doubled in 2021 from the previous year, and 2022 saw a +55% increase in global EV sales over ‘21. The registration of 10.5 million new vehicles in ’22 was despite component supply chain shortages and disruptions from the war in Ukraine that hampered output. With approximately 27 million EVs on the road today, they now account for a global market share of 13% of vehicles on the road.
What is clear is that as global consumers increasingly align their climate-driven values with vehicle purchasing, the number of EVs on the road will continue to rise exponentially. This is an ‘EV boom’ that has been accelerated by a combination of three central influences:
- Sustained governmental policy support, in the form of subsidies and incentives, pledges to phase out internal combustion engines (ICEs), and lofty electrification targets
- The rise in the availability and performance of EV models, which now gives consumers five times as many to choose from than in 2015
- Electrification of fleets by car manufacturers, in a race to meet rising consumer demand.
Showcasing the innovations and ideas behind EV market growth
The annual London EV show and conference, held at the end of November ‘22, is a platform where stakeholders from all three market influences gather to showcase the innovations and ideas that are spearheading the UK EV transition. With representation from the entire value chain, this year’s event included collaborations between government representatives, fleet management, charging systems & solutions providers, battery technology providers, major car manufacturers, and other influential stakeholders.
Attending the show provided me with a ‘peak-under-the-bonnet’ of the UK EV market and shed light on some of the key trends emerging in 2023 and beyond. Conference talks included those from industry leaders and leading research centres, amongst the latest vehicle innovations being showcased. These talks had one key common theme – that whilst a marketplace as dynamic as EVs offers great opportunity, commercially and in tackling climate change, capitalising effectively on these opportunities over the next few years will be fraught with challenge for the UK.
UK charging infrastructure is struggling to keep pace with the EV growth
The London EV show highlighted just how much the UK EV market has expanded in recent years in line with global growth, notching up an impressive 92% increase in EV registrations between January ‘21 and January ‘22.
UK charging, however, is still in its infancy relative to the vehicles it powers, and comparatively lags behind. There is a growing disparity between the growth rates of EV sales in the UK and charge point installations. This divergence threatens to impede the UK from meeting climate-goals set by the government and derail the feasibility of the UK’s ban on internal combustion engines (ICEs) that looms in 2030.
When you compare the absolute number of public charge point installations the UK needs to support the proposed transition, with current figures, it is clear there is still a long way to go. If the government’s 2022 charging infrastructure strategy successfully meets its ambition, by 2030 there should be over 300,000 public chargers installed nationwide. In comparison, as of January ‘23, there were cumulatively just 38,000 public charge points available across the UK.
More importantly, though, is considering the pace of charger installations relative to new EV registrations – which is slowing owing to the continued acceleration of new EV registrations. Since January ‘20, the cumulative number of EVs in the UK has increased 3.8X, whereas the number of charge points has increased just 2.6X. This increasing disparity is made ever clearer by the change in the UK’s EV-to-charge point ratio – a measure which helps assess the suitability of a nation’s charging network to support its vehicle’s needs.
As a benchmark, the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Directive (AFID), an EU policy which regulates the deployment of public chargers, recommends a ratio of 10 EVs per public charge point for EU member states.
In 2016, the UK had a healthy ratio of approximately 8 EVs per charge point. Comparatively, the UK now has the 9th worst global ratio of 21 EVs per public charge point. There are evidently key lessons to be learned from the likes of South Korea, the global leader which boasts a ratio of just 2.6.
Unlocking mass adoption with public charging infrastructure
The vehicle-to-charger gap poses a fundamental problem to the mass adoption of EVs in the UK, for two main reasons. Firstly, on average, 30% of UK households lack off-street parking for residential charging. This figure rises to around 40% across major UK cities, and as high as 50% in London. These households will therefore have to rely on the public charging network – either off-street slow, charging, or nearby fast/rapid charging hubs – to charge their vehicles at home.
This scenario works, provided there are enough charge points to accommodate users. However, too few chargers pose a major barrier for drivers switching over from ICEs, who will view EVs as impractical until there is somewhere suitably convenient to charge them.
When Which? surveyed 1.5k electric car owners, nearly half said that their nearest public chargers were over a 20-minute walk away.
Not exactly convenient.
The logic is the same looking across the UK’s charging network for longer journeys. For true mass adoption, there needs to be enough charge points to make charging your vehicle battery as convenient as filling up with fuel currently.
Speak to any EV owner in the UK, however, and they will tell you of the growing issues around public charging: long queues, a myriad of payment systems and apps to contend with for different charge-point-operators, and chargers which simply don’t work (experienced by 4 in 10 customers of public EV chargers).
This is not conducive to convincing the masses to switch from ICE vehicles to the more sustainable option of electric.
These issues with the charging infrastructure will continue to exacerbate as drivers become increasingly reliant on public chargers, versus at home or work, the more that make the switch to EVs. The UK urgently needs to accelerate its plans for large-scale installations across the public charging network, which is so far failing to deliver the c.100 installations per day needed until 2030 – last month (Jan ’23) just 28 charging devices were installed per day. A large-scale programme such as this requires a unified drive from all stakeholders.
As demand and supply continue to fall out of balance, this situation presents opportunities for private investment in the expansion of the charging networks. The current EV charge point operator market is highly fragmented and lacks a ‘gold-standard’ of consumer vehicle charging. There is a clear market need that so far appears unfulfilled in both availability and quality.
Whilst there are a multitude of other challenges that must be addressed, such as ensuring a sufficient supply of electricity to meet charging demands, each of these challenges offers their own commercial opportunities.
For those considering entering or expanding within the space, now is the time to answer the key strategic questions – what is the ‘Size of the Prize’ available? Which of the current barriers-to-adoption offer the greatest opportunities if addressed effectively, and how can that value be harnessed?
