The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) in the UK is to launch a campaign to urge for new regulations to be introduced to ensure mechanics are properly trained to work on electric vehicles. The Institute says mechanics with no specialist training, as well as vehicle owners, risk death or serious injury because they do not understand the very real dangers.

Electric cars can contain electrical systems with more than three times the 230 volts found in the mains supply. Steve Nash, the IMI’s chief executive, said there was a pressing need to set up a licensing system for electric car mechanics to ensure they were properly trained. He commented, "Sooner or later somebody is going to attempt to do something they shouldn’t do and they are going to fry themselves. That will either be the person working on it who gets a 600- or 700-volt shock or it might be a member of the public exposed to a fire risk.”

The IMI points out that of around 180,000 car mechanics working in the UK only 40,000 are on the IMI professional register. Of these only around 1000 have undergone training on electric vehicles. Currently the UK has around 45,000 electric cars with this figure rising fast.

The IMI say they have been speaking to MPs about the problem, but has found that at present there is a very little understanding of the need to ensure that mechanics are adequately trained.