Future shock

The Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce hopes to pre-empt possible future skill shortages by calling for more industry consultation on electric vehicles (EVs).

During a recent interview published in the VACC's Australian Automotive magazine, VACC executive director David Purchase suggested the lack of informative discussion between EV manufacturers and the service and repair industry could result in inadequate training in the future.

"While some good work has been conducted individually, there are very few opportunities for EV information to be shared and discussed. The industry will have to make some important decisions soon, but the retail, service and repair sector, in particular, has been out of the loop," Mr Purchase said. 

He called for the federal government to "open the way for a national discussion on electric vehicles to enable interested parties to develop a safe and productive working environment."

The chairman of the VACC's Automotive Electrical Division, Tony Sanchez, also weighed in, telling the magazine "There are no Australian Standards for the repair and service of EVs, which makes it impossible to create a generic training package for these vehicles.

"The situation now with EVs, and hybrids, is very similar to what the blacksmiths faced when carriages came into their workshops, without a horse, for the first time. What do they do? They have to retrain," Mr Sanchez said.

it's an issue already foreseen by car companies such as Porsche, which has a set of standards and procedures for its workshop staff to observe while working on the company's latest model, the Cayenne S Hybrid.

Australia will join the rest of the world as pure electric vehicles start to become available during the next few years, opening up demands for specialised skills.

While more petrol-electric hybrids are in the pipeline to join an already growing market segment, pure electric EVs are in the starting blocks too. First to hit the road will be Mitsubishi's i-MiEV -- the first EV from a large car-maker in Australia -- in the hands of a group of 40 Foundation Group customers including energy providers, financial institutions, government bodies, fleet managers and motoring associations. Included in the Foundation Group is the Carsales Network, which will welcome its i-MiEV to the company fleet in September.

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