Gloucestershire College has launched a new electric vehicle training centre following a £500,000 investment.
The college has acquired new cutting-edge tools and equipment, as well as several electric or hybrids cars, for its automotive technology workshops at its Gloucester campus.
It comes as the college launches a series of new short courses, which aim to support the upskilling of automotive workers, and follows a government pledge to stop the sale of new petrol or diesel cars in the UK by 2030.
College principal and chief executive Matthew Burgess said: “There are 10,000 people employed in the motor industry in Gloucestershire alone, and electric vehicle sales increased by 40% last year. There is already a significant gap in the number of auto technicians who have the skills to work on electric vehicles.
“In addition to our new range of short courses for professionals, we are working with awarding bodies to embed these skills into our full-time courses and qualifications and are aiming for Gloucester to be recognised as a centre of excellence for EV training.”
The college added that the new centre would support its own efforts to become carbon neutral before 2030 – following its move over to renewable energy to power its campuses last summer.
Local auto technicians and sustainability champions attend an official launch event for the facility, where automotive author Tom Denton, college principal and chief executive Matthew Burgess, and curriculum lead, Jon Harman all spoke.
Mr Denton said: “Electric vehicles are the future of transport, and they consume much less electricity than hydrogen cars. Working on high voltage electric vehicles – some being over 1,000 volts – is covered by the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989; it is therefore essential that auto technicians are trained properly and qualified to repair and service them safely, and to meet their legal requirements.”
Gloucestershire College estimated there are currently 680,000 electric cars on UK roads, plus 455,000 plug-in hybrids, yet only 13% of automotive technicians are EV qualified.
It added that a report by industry experts AutoTrader had found a third of registered vehicles in the UK by 2030, creating a need for 77,000 qualified technicians.
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