As has been discussed in great detail to this point, one of the biggest obstacles in the way of widespread EV adoption remains a lack of charging infrastructure, with more than one study suggesting that major work needs to be done in the coming years to meet growth in EV sales. Aside from pricing disparities and other factors such as limited range, a lack of EV chargers is being addressed by both companies like Ford and the U.S. government, both of which are investing heavily to improve infrastructure, but there’s another big problem that must be overcome as well, it seems – a lack of electricians that can fix them, according to Automotive News.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, there were around 4,000 public charging stations with more than 7,000 inoperable ports as of early this month – an outage rate of around six percent – while Here Technologies pegs that number at 4,673, based on real-time data derived from connected chargers. Problem is, there simply aren’t enough electricians out there to fix these chargers and keep them operating for customers.
According to Qmerit – an EV charger installation company – the U.S. will need at least 142,000 more certified electricians than are currently in operation by 2030 to support the current growth in EV sales, but that process involves four to five years of apprenticeship, not including the time it takes to obtain a charger certification. Demand for electricians in general is expected to grow by six percent over the next decade as well, with 812,000 needed by 2032. At the same time, between now and 2030, the number of electricians is expected to shrink by 14 percent.
There are a number of organizations working to rectify this issue, including the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program, a nonprofit between automakers, educational institutions, utility companies, and EV service equipment manufacturers, which has trained about 30,000 electricians over the past 10 years, as well as ChargerHelp!, which is working to train more electricians as well. Regardless, there’s still much work to be done to ensure that this equipment can stay in top working order moving forward.
We’ll have more on all of the obstacles standing in the way of EV adoption soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for ongoing Ford news coverage.
Comments
LOL!
There aren’t enough electrons to enumerate a list of the EV shortcomings. Maybe the whole EV ecosystem will be ready for prime time in 25 years. Maybe.
Obviously you are not an ev owner so go ahead be cynical while us ev owners go along driving for less than 4 cents a mile
Your joy will soon be muted. Many states that rely on a gas tax to fix roads
will be instituting a mileage tax to make up for lost revenue from BEVs.
You will be required to pay a fee-per-mile for the use of the highways.
According to some reports, these rates will be set to gain the same amount
of revenue as if you were paying the gas tax at the pump. And, well you know
how governments get carried away….
These things are going to be a field day for vandals and thieves. Unless they are monitored 24/7 by a human, it will be fair game.
In certain states, the human monitor will be told to just let them take whatever they want.
Stop creating jobs
But who will clean out all the chewing gum stuck in the electroplug? Who will deprogram when a virus is filtered into your vehicle once plugged in? Who will, Who will and the beat goes on.
Well, I don’t see the number of electricians growing by any noticeable measure, as our population continues to tank, so how about designing chargers that require less maintenance and are able to withstand user abuse? Ahh, another reason not become an early adopter…
US population is growing, but the problem is that kids aren’t exposed to “real jobs”. Everyone wants to be an influencer and make millions like a couple of people on twitch or YouTube. Not only that, but a HUGE portion of kids are told they have to go to college, so they get saddled with debt, and now they’re above a “working” job, they spent 4 years learning and getting a degree that didn’t open a career for them.
The some what sad part is that if these kids became electricians, they’d make WAYYYY more money. But you can’t be an electrician who works from home in an expensive downtown loft, or works remote in an RV travelling the country.
Hey, here’s a wild thought. Since there’s a growing shortage of electricians, how about designing charging stations that DON’T break down!
Like most automotive news articles are stating, Americans simply don’t want EVs. #BudLightEVs
I don’t understand why all the hate for EVs. No one is making anyone buy them so if you don’t like them, don’t buy one. Why can’t we accept that people buy cars for different reasons and respect each others choices?
Personally, I like both ICE’s and EV’s for different reasons…