hydrogen the cost is going to make it prohibitive.
Another problem is the fact the zero emission deadlines are really close. We have five-year plans and orders with suppliers already in but the technology is not there in the UK. In Sweden they are already running hydrogen trucks. In the UK there is no infrastructure in place to change from electric to hydrogen.
We have six electric vehicles out of a fleet of 350. Electric is not the way forward for us in our sector. We can only use them for particular things. And getting the drivers that can operate them is a challenge. It’s going to be the same with the hydrogen.
Fixing the vehicles is another problem. We have a huge maintenance operation for our entire fleet. But when we start bringing in new technologies, our guys can’t really touch them. They have to go back to the manufacturer. We need the opportunity to bring those skills in house.
DH: A business may have 100 vans and six are electric. Those six will probably sit in the yard because drivers are scared to take them out because they think it is going to run out of charge. And from a practical purpose, if it’s got a low charge and you go to a customer’s house can you ask to plug it in? It’s not going to happen, it just doesn’t work.
WM: It is unfair to say that commercial vehicles aren’t ready yet. What isn’t ready is the matching up of what the vehicles should be doing. There are cases where this is perfect, such as the carpenter who goes to a job, parks up and does 20 miles a day.
How well placed is Lancashire to deliver the skills needed as the automotive revolution develops?
MY: Skills is an issue. The Institute of Motor Industry is predicting a skills shortage around technicians by 2030 with the growth of vehicles being put on the market.
We’ve already got an automotive sector which is under skilled in some areas because people aren’t moving with the times or don’t have access to the technology. A lot of private garages are struggling to try and retrain.
The skills problem will get worse as we progress to 2035 and beyond and as new
vehicles come out and hydrogen or whatever comes onto the market.
Meeting the challenge is all down to training and getting the right staff and skills to fit these future generation of vehicles.
We do a lot of commercial delivery for industry and we’re plugging that skills gap in Lancashire and we get a lot of people going on our courses up to level four, up to the higher levels.
We give students access on the full-time programmes to do EV although it is lower level. When they get to level three, they do an isolation qualification.
CS: When it comes to the future workforce, the opportunity and challenge hinges on the breadth of skills being brought into the sector and the need to train the current workforce.
One of the challenges is capturing some of that breadth and adding that into the core curriculum to ignite possibilities for students.
The second thing is the need to train the current workforce. If we’re not training those who are at the more mature end of their career, they’re not going to be there to support the apprentices, the tier level students on placements to say, ‘Oh, you did that at college this week or at your training provider? Yes, I
CS: We can only stay ahead with the help and support of the local businesses we will be providing the future workforce for. We can tailor curriculum to meet a business’ needs.
The other way businesses can support the curriculum is by informing us of their aspect of the sector, helping us unpick and unpack the standards and add things in to enrich and get that breadth back.
We can work alongside businesses so they are embedding their training within ours and that gives us a seamless opportunity for the business to grow.
ZW: It is important for businesses to liaise with education providers. We’re heavily involved with Lancashire Skills Improvement Plan that works with all the colleges and universities. It’s really refreshing how much providers want our input.
Infrastructure, cost and ‘range anxiety’ are all barriers. How do we hurdle them?
PJ: There will be a blend of solutions going forward, there is no one-size-fits-all for this so you will probably see battery electric passenger cars, light commercial vehicles. Then you’re more likely to see hydrogen fuel cell and probably hydrogen combustion with heavy commercial vehicles.
If we’re not training those who are at the more mature end of their career, they’re not going to be there to support the apprentices
know about this, I can help you embed it.’
So, whatever aspect of the industry takes off, the education and business sector have to work on it together.
MY: The investment we have made here as a skills provider will help us cater for the training that is going to change through the reform of EV qualifications. It will see us for at least ten years and beyond that.
It’s paved the way for us to move with the qualifications and the technology. We’ve also invested in hydrogen so we are right on the cusp. We’re beyond where the industry is at the minute, certainly on light vehicles.
The incoming government needs to think about the ambitious timescale we’ve got to decarbonise our transport network and the current lack of incentives.
Then there is the infrastructure. There has been some revision to the planning laws but it can take years to get a connection if you want a substation for your facility.
The biggest barrier to the uptake of EV is cost, the second biggest is what we call ‘charging anxiety’ because we don’t have the public charging network there.
Continued on Page 40
Michael Yerbury
Zowi Whittaker
Paul Jones
Miles Roberts
Darran Harris
Daniel Miller LANCASHIREBUSINES SV
IEW.CO.UK
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