Should mechanics need to hold an electrician licence to repair EVs?

The Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) is urging the Queensland government not to implement a regulation change that would require mechanics working on electric vehicles to also hold a full electrician license.

The EVC says such measures aren’t warranted and such a regulation would be globally unique to Queensland. The additional requirement for a mechanic to complete a four-year electrician apprenticeship would create a huge bottleneck to servicing EVs in Queensland and result in manufacturers focussing on other states with their limited stock.

Queensland’s Electrical Safety Office (ESO) recently put out a discussion paper on a review of Queensland’s Electrical Safety Act. The discussion paper looks at electrical safety considerations of new and emerging technologies, the changing landscape of electricity and the workforce and electrical safety and EVs.

The discussion paper gives three possible options. The first is to maintain the status quo where the industry undertakes self-regulation on training requirements for work on EVs.

Option 2 would require a legislative change that would result in mechanics needing electrical licensing to work on EVs meaning mechanics could need to do a full four-year electrician apprenticeship to work on EVs.

The EVC response to the discussion paper says this is unnecessary.

“As the national representative body for the Australian EV industry, we aim to cultivate a legislative environment that prioritises safety and pragmatism and promotes the widespread adoption of electric vehicles. The EVC’s stance is that work on electric vehicles should be conducted by individuals who possess the necessary competence,” says the EVC.

“The current regulatory framework, supplemented by self-regulation and strong workplace safety measures, has effectively managed safety in EV maintenance to date.

“Imposing burdensome licensing requirements on mechanics should be approached with caution – if  the existing regulatory arrangements are to be changed, a robust evidence-based, and consultative review process should be applied to identify any safety-related shortcomings in  the existing arrangements.

“Lengthy apprenticeships or training programs for mechanics to obtain electrical licences could disrupt the industry, increase service costs, and limit the availability of skilled workers.”

No history of safety problems working on hybrids

The ESO makes the case that electric vehicle safety issues are only a recent concern thanks to rapid EV uptake however the EVC says that’s not the case pointing to hundreds of thousands of hybrids with no cases of electrocution.

“The presence of tens of thousands of HEVs (hybrids) in Queensland, dating back to the 1990s, is  ignored by the discussion paper in favour of reporting on globally reported fire risks.

“There  has not been any concern raised of electric shock associated with the maintenance of HEVs in Australia; this should serve to demonstrate that there is not a failure of regulation at this  point,” say the EVC.

“So far, with over 300,000 HEVs on Australian roads  and over 100,000 BEVs & PHEVs, there has not been a single incident of electrocution in a  workshop related to vehicle maintenance that we are aware of; this tends to indicate that the  existing regulatory arrangements are adequate. 

“The ‘exposure to risk’ highlighted in the cost/benefit analysis is exposure to a risk that has been around for decades and is already adequately managed.”

On fires the EVC says ESO misses the low rates of EV fires and fails to note that there have been no instances of EV fires during repair periods.

“When reporting on the global fire incidence in BEV and PHEV, the paper does not attempt to relate this to petrol/diesel car fires, which occur with ~20 times higher frequency in recent  global data1.

“The paper also omits to mention that there have been only three fires in Australia involving road-registered battery electric vehicles; two of these incidents were due  to arson, while the third occurred when a garage caught fire, and the EV was not the cause,”

“Given the inclination on the part of the ESO to look to global data, we suggest that it would  be appropriate for the ESO to research the global incidence of mechanics suffering an  electric shock while working on EVs, as part of the robust, evidence-based review we  mention in our executive summary.”

If change is needed, short course is better than full apprenticeship

The EVC says that in the event that a “robust, evidence-based review” determines that current regulatory approaches are inadequate, a practical alternative to a four-year requirement would be the introduction of a short “upskill” licence similar to a “restricted electrical licence” obtained by plumbers.

This approach would equip mechanics with the necessary safety knowledge to work on EVs without a full electrical licence’s unnecessary and extensive requirements. For plumbers working on electric hot water services, this is typically a 40-hour course.

Submissions to the ESO discussion paper close Tuesday June 27. A full review of the electrical safety act in Queensland is underway, which this discussion paper is an input to. Submissions to that process close August 15^th.