Launched - 6 WEEK Course in EV Charger Installations

- Coming up on this week's news, the UK's first college course on EV charger installation has just been launched, but you don't need to be a competent electrician to join it. New figures reveal the monumental scale of cancelled electrical work across the country. And power outages in Henley are being blamed on a rare rodent brought into Britain by the super rich Rothschild family. Welcome to Electrical News Weekly in association with The Electric Heating Company. Whether you're listening in the van, onsite or down at the wholesale counter, I'm Joe Robinson and I've been through the best of the electrical industry news to save you the trouble. And as always, if you think you've spotted the two words that I've been challenged to slip into this week's show, comment with them below for the chance to win a prize. A technical college has unveiled what it says is the UK's first course on EV charger installation, but it's aimed at apprentices, not competent electricians. London South Bank Technical College says its six-week course on wiring up charge points is needed to tackle the skills shortage. The college's careers officer, Tim Weston, says normally, such courses would be only for competent electricians, but the institution no longer has the luxury of waiting around for people to reach that level. The course is part of a four-year electrical apprenticeship and it's funded by Shell in partnership with City & Guilds. It follows concerns there will not be enough qualified installers to meet the government's charging point targets. The country is currently installing plugin points at only 1/4 of the rate that it needs to. Weston said there were worries the course would be too challenging for apprentices, but believes their learners have proved the doubters wrong by passing with flying colours. The announcement of the course comes as research reveals how badly skills shortages are crippling the trade. Almost half of electrical contractors say they're struggling with workforce shortages this year, and 66% say they're having to cancel work as a result. The main reason cited is a lack of young people taking apprentices to replace the skilled EU workers who left after Brexit. A significant number of tradespeople blamed careers advisors at schools who they say are pushing university over a career on the tools. The research, which was done by Rated People, discovered that 48% of UK adults weren't offered a trade career as a job option in careers advice when they were at school. And despite T Levels being rolled out to encourage more young people into apprenticeships, just 10,000 students enrolled on a T Level course last year. The cost to the UK of the skills drought was spelled out in stark terms this week by the owner of B&Q, screwfix and TradePoint. Kingfisher PLC says it's costing the UK economy 12 billion pounds a year in missed GDP growth or almost 100 billion by 2030. That's because the construction sector is the second largest after services. The country is on course to face a shortfall of 250,000 tradespeople by 2030 as the push towards net zero increases. Already one in five Brits has had to cancel or postpone a project due to the lack of skilled professionals. Kingfisher says one option is to encourage more women into the trade. They make up just 2% of the workforce today. In other news, residents in Henley have been coming up with theories for a series of mysterious nighttime outages of electricity. The power cutouts occur between two and 10 times a day, mainly at night. Some residents report that their appliances have blown up. Scottish and Southern Electricity says it's unable to trace the cause of the power cuts, but its engineers are continuing their investigation. They think tree branches blowing into the cables is a possibility. They are also focusing their attention on a rare rodent, which was brought into Britain by the ultra wealthy Rothschild family. The scapegoat goes by the Latin name glis glis, better known as the edible dormouse. So not a goat at all. And it was introduced by Lionel, the Second Baron Rothschild in 1902. Six of his original pets escaped and now there're around 100,000 in the south of England. SSE says the cable sheathing on overhead lines is like a drug to the dormouse and because they are nocturnal creatures, it explains why the cuts are at night. The bushy-tailed vandals also caused problems back in August when they ate through BT broadband cables in Tring, Hertfordshire, causing 10,000 homes to lose the internet. SSE tells us that the technology on its overhead network is designed to temporarily turn itself off if it detects any third-party contact. It will then attempt to reconnect supplies after a minute, and if there is no longer any contact, the power will come back on. When Henley finds out who the culprit is, we'll let you know. In product news, a new EV incentive scheme for electricians has been unveiled by software provider ev.energy. The company manufactures smart charging technology, which helps shift charging times to protect the UK's energy grid. To get more EV drivers smart charging, ev.energy is offering installers up to 70 pounds in cash for every smart compatible charger you connect. Eligible brands include Easee, Indra, BG, SyncEV, and Waev. So if you want to earn extra on every instal, check out the link, which I've posted in the show notes. Still on EV, charger maker Wallbox has announced that it's teaming up with Octopus Energy so that all customers who buy a Pulsar Max plugin point can join the Intelligent Octopus Go Tariff. Intelligent Octopus Go is a smart EV charging platform that ensures that cars are charged when the grid is at its cheapest without the owner having to be some kind of mental contortionist. Wallbox reckons it could save householders 600 pounds a year. You can also use the Octopus Go app to schedule the time and the amount of minimum charge you want for your car. Looking to the future of EV charging and excitement is starting to build about wireless charging. It's similar to wireless charging for your mobile phone. You park your car over a pad that's bolted to the ground. That Pad uses a clever technology called magnetic resonance to transfer power to your batteries, and it gets better. The pioneer of the technology, US firm WiTricity has just started using the pads to take power from cars and upload it into the electricity network. The company has confirmed that it's in discussions with big auto brands to bring this vehicle to grid tech to the market. Exciting, hey? Speaking of exciting, last week's question of the week related to underfloor wiring systems and asked, what is the space factor used in the onsite guide for cables in trunking? An absolutely grandiose 70% of the good folks on YouTube got the answer right by clicking the option marked 45%. So well done to you all. For more information on the subject of underfloor wiring systems, including fusing issues on PowerTrack, clean earths, and much more, please check out our free training package made in association with Marshall Tufflex to help you with ECPD over on eFIXX Training. I've popped a link in the show notes to that. And finally, music. Where would we be without it on site? Everyone has their favourite track to work to. Mine as it happens is"Agadoo" by Black Lace. Maybe not so cool or trendy these days, but those cats could write catchy tunes. I really hate our script writer some weeks. Anyway, this week we learned that a team of data scientists has been crunching its way through Spotify's records, looking for patterns, and they've managed to work out the favourite songs of various professions, including electricians. In reverse order, the third most played melody by sparks is "You Shook Me All Night Long" by appropriately enough for electricians, AC/DC. Second is "Back In Black," another fat tune by AC/DC. I think script writer Ray means phat with a P-H there. He's so down with the kids. And the all-time top banger is Guns N' Roses with "Welcome to the Jungle." For those about to rock, we salute you. Now, just before we get to your favourite bit of the show where I reveal last week's challenge words and winners, we want to thank our premium partners. We couldn't make the news without you. First up, they're the people who've created the Swiss Army knife of solar inverters, along with all-weather batteries, very much the Boy Scouts of the solar industry, it's Sunsynk. Up next for all your circuit protection needs, they're like having an Italian star striker in your Premiership team, it's Lewden Palazzoli. And for the ultimate experience in wireless sound and home cinema with their most powerful portable speaker yet, it's the home of the Roam, Sonos. The best thing to come out of Yorkshire since stainless steel, it's Doncaster Cables, the home of EV-Ultra and other groundbreaking and quality cables. Celebrating their 100th anniversary of literally creating connections in the electrical industry this year, rising from the flames like some kind of mythological avian it's, Phoenix contact. And finally, celebrating their 60th anniversary this year with an incredible range of equipment from EV charge points through industrial sockets and switches to kit for explosive areas, plus they supplied gear for a Campari factory, so they'll always have a place in my heart, it's Scame. Big thanks to you all. We really appreciate your ongoing support for the news. If you think you know the words that I've smuggled into this week's show, pop your guess into the comments and we'll dig out a goodie bag prize to the first to get the right answers. Last week's words were gladiator and provocateur, and the first person to get both right was KidInTheVault with bonus points awarded for nailing the correct spelling of both of those. No easy task, well done to you. Make sure you click the get involved link in the show notes to claim your prize. Thanks for listening to this episode of Electrical News Weekly in association with The Electric Heating Company. Make sure you subscribe to receive the next update. Thanks for listening, and until next time, have a great week. Stay safe out there, and remember, there's no such thing as a torque-calibrated arm.