MITO has received funding from the Government’s Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund towards the development of a qualification framework for the safe inspection, servicing and repair of electric vehicles (EVs) in New Zealand.

MITO chief executive Janet Lane says: “MITO is absolutely delighted to have received this funding. The fund encourages innovation and investment to accelerate the uptake of EV and low-emission vehicles in New Zealand. Critical to this is developing the human infrastructure required for the safe inspection, servicing and repair of EVs, balancing the required physical infrastructure. We are sincerely grateful for this co-investment.”

The $95,000 of funding will go towards the project that will enable industry-wide access to training provision and qualifications for EVs by 2019. Fundamental to this project will be international research and evaluation of qualification design, content, structure and delivery models in order to understand and capitalise on the experiences of other countries and how this can best be applied to New Zealand.

“This project will benefit the public,” says Janet. “It will ensure consumers have choice when purchasing inspection, servicing and repair services for their EV, which, in turn, will drive value for money and increase consumer confidence.”

In addition, access to a qualification framework for the automotive workforce will allow businesses to respond to an increasingly rapid pace of change.

“This is a strategy necessary for strong, sustainable and balanced growth of the automotive industry.”