new legislations are needed to protect mechanics from the high-voltage electrical systems in hybrid cars and trucks as well as electric vehicles (EVs), according to a leading market body.
The Institute of the motor market (IMI) has satisfied with the department for deliver (DfT) requiring a modification to present regulations, which offer very little guidance for garage personnel working on the latest alternatively-fuelled vehicles (AFVs).
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The wiring, motors as well as batteries in EVs as well as hybrids normally run at a number of hundred volts, providing considerable risk to those working on them. The IMI says: “untrained ‘have-a-go’ individuals are putting their lives at danger by attempting to repair work as well as preserve electric as well as hybrid Vehicles.”
The organisation, which certifies 100,000 people a year with its training programmes, is requiring a new mandatory expert register to prove mechanics are “competent, skilled as well as identifiable” to work on hybrids as well as EVs. This, the IMI says, would: “keep the existing regulations contemporary as well as according to fast modifications to innovation within the automotive sector.” 
The legislations surrounding electrical safety, detailed in the health and wellness as well as security at work Act (1974) as well as the electricity at work regulations (1989), are “open ended”, according to the IMI, simply referring to “systems in vehicles”.