Industry doubts EV targets will ‘ever be met’

New research commissioned by ABB Robotics and Automotive Manufacturing Solutions (AMS) has revealed that more than half of the automotive industry does not believe EV targets will ever be met.

Its second annual survey of more than 400 industry experts showed a drop from 11% to eight per cent in the number of respondents who thought the transition to EVs could be achieved in the set timescales, while 53% believe the targets will never be met.

A lack of key skills was cited as a major reason for this, with 52% of European respondents identifying a stark lack of EV and battery skills.

Daniel Harrison, automotive analyst from AMS, said: “As EV production accelerates, the need to upskill or redeploy large numbers of existing colleagues as well as attract new talent into the automotive industry becomes more critical. EV manufacturing in conjunction with the increased software, electrical, and advanced electronic content requires new and different skills and the survey reflects a belief that more needs to be done.”

Meanwhile, 35% highlighted supply chain disruption leading to production delays as a key concern.

The ABB research also found that 53% of all European respondents said rising energy costs remained one of their top-three concerns.