EV TechSafe Technician Forecast - Q3 2025

UK EV technician numbers rise, but skills gap still threatens ZEV targets

Each quarter, we publish the EV TechSafe Technician Forecast to track how the UK’s EV repair workforce is growing and whether it is keeping pace with demand.

This January 2026 update reviews certification trends from Q3 2025 and updates our projections through to 2035. While more technicians continue to gain EV qualifications, the overall rate of growth still falls short of what is needed to support the UK’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) targets.

Overall certification is rising, but the timing and scale of growth remain misaligned with future demand.

EV TechSafe Technician Forecast: Q3 2025 at a glance

• 2,613 technicians gained an EV qualification in Q3 2025
• This is 3% higher than Q3 2024, but lower than earlier annual peaks
• 71,942 technicians now hold an EV qualification
• Around 26% of the UK technician workforce is EV qualified
• We expect around 2,580 new certifications in Q4 2025
• Projected demand could exceed supply by more than 44,000 technicians by 2035

Q3 2025 certification results

Awarding bodies and eligible IMI accreditations added 2,613 EV-qualified technicians in Q3 2025. This marks a modest year-on-year increase compared with Q3 2024, but certification volumes are below levels seen in earlier years.

As a result, the total number of qualified EV technicians now stands at 71,942. Growth continues, but not at the pace needed to close the gap between workforce capacity and future demand.

Early outlook for Q4 2025

Based on trends, we expect around 2,580 technicians to gain EV certification in Q4 2025. If achieved, this would lift the total number of qualified technicians to approximately 74,500.

The chart below shows how projected technician demand overtakes supply from the early 2030s onwards.

Looking ahead to 2035

Our projections show the number of EV-qualified technicians continuing to rise over the next decade, reaching around 137,000 by 2032 and 193,000 by 2035.

However, expected demand grows faster. The gap between supply and demand widens sharply in the early 2030s, with shortfalls emerging from 2033 onwards and increasing year on year. By 2035, the projected shortfall exceeds 44,000 technicians.

This means that even sustained growth in certification does not fully close the gap. Without faster uptake, technician availability risks becoming a constraint on EV adoption rather than a response to it.

Even with continued growth in EV certification, the workforce does not expand quickly enough to support the shift to 80% electric new car sales by 2030. Without faster training and uptake, technician capacity becomes a limiting factor.

Why timing matters

The most acute pressure on technician capacity falls in the years leading up to 2030, when the ZEV mandate needs a rapid increase in electric vehicle sales.

This creates a narrow window to scale training, support employers, and bring more technicians into EV repair roles. Delays during this period are difficult to recover later, as the skills gap compounds alongside rising vehicle volumes.