EV Ready: AW first to complete Thatcham Research EV training
Published: 13 January, 2022
AW Repair Group (AW) has become the first accident repair business to complete Thatcham Research’s EV training, meaning it has achieved EV Ready certification across all its sites.
More than 200 technical and admin staff are now EV Aware across the business, having completed the necessary e-learning modules. Technical staff also completed a Level 3 qualification.
Steve Hoe, Technical Development and VM Executive at AW Repair Group commented “Although we already have several TecKnowlogy Centres specialising in EVs, Tesla and multi-material repair, we felt it was really important for all the team to have certified EV awareness, particularly as we are now seeing an increase in EV offerings across the whole of the car parc.”
AW was the first business to sign up for Thatcham Research’s EV Ready training programme in August 2021, following its launch.
Dean Lander, Head of Repair Sector Services, Thatcham Research said: “It’s been a huge pleasure to award AW with its EV Ready certification. As a progressive, agile business, AW quickly recognised the need, and opportunity, to upskill all staff who might come into contact with an EV. Now AW has become the first to complete the EV Ready programme, its customers can bank on meeting well-informed individuals with a strong working knowledge of EVs, across all touchpoints.”
For more information on the EV Ready training programme please visit: www.thatcham.org/ev-ready/
- Go EV Ready with Delphi Technologies
Delphi Technologies is taking part in the upcoming EV Ready event, being held at Brighton Racecourse on Wednesday 25 January.
- Coronavirus causes 60% of garages to close
More than 60% of garages in the UK could have shut their doors since the COVID-19 lockdown began, a survey suggests.
- Plugging the skills gap: IGA offers subsidised EV training
The IGA is offering subsidised Hybrid/EV Level 3 training to its members with a view to helping address the shortage of EV-trained technicians in the sector.
- Tesla tech: Recycled or original?
Tesla; The very name has become a byword for the EV future. What is behind it though, and what is it made up of? The core technology, battery and power management, was developed by a collection of brilliant U.S engineers, some of whom had connections with the GM EV1 programme. Indeed, the GM EV1 programme has a huge impact on the development of EVs. Martin Eberhard, Marc Tarpenning and Ian Wright were the three original founders.
The original idea was a classic OEM model; A short run of high price models to generate enough profit to attract investment and sling-shot to a higher production volume model which requires more investment.
Lotus had the aluminium-intensive platform used in Elise, along with non-structural skin panels (low investment, easy to alter) and a steel rear subframe (relatively low investment, relatively easy to adapt). The marriage of Tesla technology to an adaption of Elise was a very wise move. The big investment, the core aluminium structure, was already paid for by Elise and the Opel Speedster/Vauxhall VX220 programme (more on which in a future article).
Arrival
The arrival of Elon Musk introduced banking to the company, and an ability to swim in the right circles. So, Musk decided to delay the Roadster programme by nine months while unique headlights were tooled, and Musk decided much of the strategy after 2010. Musk also famously sued to be recognised as a Tesla founder; Such vanity.
Model S used a lot of ‘off-the-peg’ systems and pulled in automotive engineers from primarily Europe, along with those from the USA. However, the software was always Tesla’s, and the electric system was also designed by Tesla. So, the company survived on a mix of tax cash, home-spun invention and imported expertise.
Formula
The same formula was used throughout Tesla’s existence right up to the present day. The irony is Musk loves to sling mud at the ‘legacy OEMs’, yet they support Tesla by purchasing carbon credits and the many Tesla engineers were developed by those OEMs too.
Tesla has become a 0.5 million unit per year car company with electronics/electric systems that always provoke interest. They are growing, but as the tax cash runs out and they finally pitch as a car company, which they were all along, there will be a reduction in the rate of growth as the organisation consolidates towards 0.75 million units per year. Lest we forget, all other OEMs are now doing what Tesla did plus their ‘legacy’ business.
However, Tesla does stand out as a major achievement. Many have tried to do what Tesla has done; A global player in the automotive business, and apart from buying an existing business, most have failed.
- 300% increase in EV/hybrid training demand
LKQ Euro Car Parts says demand for the IMI-accredited EV and hybrid training offered through LKQ Academy has increased by more than 300% in just two years.
