As electrified vehicles – be they battery-electric or hybrid – become more common, it is essential for those working in the automotive industry to have the knowledge to work safely and confidently on and around them. While that is, of course, the primary reason for any training, it should be noted too that having the skills to work with electrified vehicles is a requirement for technicians to be able to access repair information via the Australian Automotive Service and Repair Authority (AASRA).

MTA Queensland and the MTA Institute offer a range of short courses and online micro-credentials designed to deliver this knowledge, including the Battery Electric Vehicle Inspection and Servicing Skill Set (AURSS00064), the Hybrid Electric Vehicles Inspection and Servicing Skill Set (AURSS00037), and the Depower and Reinitialise HEVs and BEVs course that includes the AURETH011 and AURETH101 accredited units.

These are in-person training courses, usually held at MTA Queensland’s state-of-the-art facility in Brisbane. However, the Association has made the commitment to take BEV and HEV training mobile and make it available to businesses and technicians in regional areas. The first such course was delivered last December in Toowoomba.

Held over a weekend at the Hi-Mech Auto Solutions workshop, more than a dozen technicians from businesses across the city attended the course delivered by Keith Minchin, the MTA Institute’s Technical Trainer.

For Craig Baills, owner of Hi-Mech Auto Solutions, opening up his workshop to enable BEV/HEV training to be delivered was a decision that enabled not only his own staff to upskill, but others within the Toowoomba automotive industry community as well.

“I had three of my staff participate and the content was great,” said Craig. “They all got a lot out of it, and it gives them the opportunity to sign up for AASRA as well.

“But getting some decent training to Toowoomba, from an industry point of view, that was probably the key,” he added. “We had a number of shops represented and that was the crux of it – getting decent training to our workshop as well as others.”

Delivering BEV and HEV training to regional areas is to be a feature of MTA Queensland’s approach to helping the automotive industry adapt to the growth in electrified vehicles and comes directly from discussions between the Association and members during regional meetings, at which issues such as access to training were raised.

“Interest in the EV/HEV course was clear during those discussions and so we made the commitment to make that training mobile and be able to offer it to regional areas,” said Marcello Riotto, Director of the MTA Institute.

“We understand that general workshops are now seeing hybrids and EVs, and while that might be for new tyres or windscreens or for detailing work, it is clear they are beginning to see more of them and that the appetite for this training is growing.”
For the Toowoomba program, the three-day course was condensed to two days over a weekend thanks to preparation work done by participants.

“As some training is done via online learning, we were able to get them to do some work in advance, including reviewing the learning material and content, prior to the practical aspects of the course,” said Marcello.

Regarding the practical requirements of being able to run the course, he added that it boiled down to having access to a suitable facility.

“In Toowoomba, we were able to use a well-equipped, spacious workshop that was very suitable for our needs, and which allowed us to bring in all the learning resources such as battery packs and PPE,” said Marcello. “We also brought along some tablets for participants so they could access some of the online aspects of the course, but since the online learning management system is mobile-friendly and pretty much everyone has a smartphone these days, those weren’t required.

“If any region has a good number of participants wanting to take the course, and we have access to a good location, we are committed to bringing the course to those areas,” he added. “Having said that, we are also working to be able to offer specific units within the course and bring them to smaller groups or even to one technician. Some of our trainers are being supplied with ‘EV-ready kits’ to deliver training in just that scenario and can do so provided a workshop has access to required learning resources such as an EV or hybrid vehicle.”

For Craig Baills, holding the course in Toowoomba – where more EVs and hybrids are being seen every year – made sense, and while the obvious growth in numbers of electrified vehicles in Toowoomba may not be true of more remote areas, knowing the training is available is valuable information.

“You need to understand what the car parc is in your area,” he said. “The number of EVs and hybrids here isn’t what you might see in Brisbane but there are quite a lot and the training was definitely on our radar and made sense for us. We don’t want our guys going into an EV or hybrid vehicle not knowing what they are up against and once you have the training it opens the doors to that technology.”

For MTA Queensland, providing EV/HEV training to regional areas is a move that was expected and planned for.

“We have offered the courses for a while now but the demand for it to be mobile was not there until now,” said Marcello. “But through 2022 and 2023, the interest in EVs from the consumer has grown massively, and with more models coming we know industry not only needs the training but needs this mobile option.
We have always been responsive to industry’s needs and will offer that training where demand requires it.”

For more information, email [email protected]

Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (February 2023)

22 February 2023