James Billington 2021-07-20 02:57:12
Emerging out from the fog of coronavirus disruption, delays and uncertainty, automotive manufacturers have taken the opportunity this year to step up and clearly announce their about-turn on making combustion engines. We can safely say the era of internal combustion for passenger and commercial vehicles is coming to an expedited end. Now, as a result, the electromobility industry is moving at a breakneck speed but there is a potential speed hump lying in the road ahead – are there enough skilled people to fill the roles the electric vehicle industry needs to meet demand and continue its current trajectory?
It’s all very well for OEMs making plans to drop IC engines like a bad habit but they will all require the resources to back it up. The shift to electrified models requires electromechanical engineers and skill sets that are not currently abundantly found in today’s pool of automotive manufacturing personnel. The competition therefore is fierce for those who are skilled in digital engineering and it is predicted to get worse.
The industry is predicted to be facing a worrying skills gap until the next generation of automotive engineers have been educated and trained. Mechanical engineers, unless they retrain, could end up seeing their job disappear completely by the end of the decade.
So, what’s the solution? As we discover on page 64, there is not one solution that fits all. A combination of upskilling, reskilling, retraining is the start, as is even nabbing individuals with transferable skills from other industries, but the longterm solution, which I found most interesting, starts in the classroom. The idea of kids today learning the basic skills to carry on the automotive evolution for its next 100-year chapter is amazing.
Of course, while an imminent shortage of skills may be short-term pain, it’s long-term gain. The number of new jobs being created as the sands of the auto industry shift can only be encouraging.
France recently announced that it will be reskilling and upskilling 800,000 workers for specialized roles and technicians within the battery manufacturing sector by 2025 to address the growing need to fill the gap. Around the globe, hundreds of battery Gigafactories are being built to come online in the next few decades. Nissan announced it will be building a £1bn EV development facility in the UK and with it will come a claimed 6,000 jobs.
Therefore, an electric vehicle should be looked at more than just a car or truck – they are seismic in their impact to so many aspects of our lives, not least the planet.
Look at our cover story, for example, Extreme E is using the platform of a radical global race series using envelope-pushing electric vehicle technology to highlight and tackle climate change challenges.
Internal combustion has been instrumental in laying the foundations for electrification, but when has any combustion vehicle or fossil fuel-based motorsport been able to say that it is helping to save the planet? And we’re only at the beginning of where we can go with it.
James Billington
Editor
MOVING ON?
If you change jobs or your company moves to a new location, please contact circulation@markallengroup.com to continue receiving your free copy of Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology International
COVER IMAGE: Extreme E, Team JBXE, Andwerndesign
©MAB - Aviation & Auto. View All Articles.