Marcel Wendt, CTO and founder of Digidentity, has warned that the Autumn Budget did not mention skills and safety demands for growing electric vehicle (EV) fleets.
Wendt said: “It’s a serious gap that the Budget says nothing about the skills and safety demands created by the UK’s growing EV fleet.
“Modern electric vehicles contain high-voltage components and software-driven systems that must be handled with verified expertise.
“A single mistake during repair can compromise both technician and driver safety.
“The sector is investing heavily in training, but without government-led standards for safe system access and repair verification, the burden falls entirely on workshops. That isn’t sustainable. EV safety depends on a workforce equipped and authorised to work with the technology now entering Britain’s roads at scale.”
Wendt also mentioned the introduction of the pence-per-mile tax on EVs and said this was an understandable move.
He said: “Fuel duty revenues are falling as more drivers switch to electric, and the Treasury needs a fair way to replace them.
“But the success of any pay-per-mile system depends on the integrity of the data that underpins it. Mileage information will come from connected-car systems and telematics, which means accuracy, security and privacy have to be built in from the start.
“The wider aftermarket will also feel the effects. Service and repair businesses are already managing an explosion in digital complexity, from vehicle software updates to secure system access.
“A usage-based tax framework adds another layer of data handling and verification that those businesses will have to support.
“If the Government wants this new model to work fairly and efficiently, it needs to invest in the digital infrastructure and clear technical standards that make data sharing and system access reliable for everyone, not just for manufacturers, but for the independent sector that keeps most of the UK’s vehicles on the road.”
