Engineering the future: Why skills are the missing link in the UK’s EV strategy

Steve Gardener, CEO of Petalite, writes on the criticality for the UK of an EV industry strategy and how plugging the engineering skills gap will be key to its sucess.

The UK has an incredibly proud and rich engineering heritage, especially in the field of automotive innovation. It’s something that businesses like ours are keen to honour as we seek to drive engineering excellence in the rapidly evolving Electric Vehicle (EV) charging sector. However, what the country and companies like Petalite need to succeed are the engineers of the future. And that needs resource, investment, infrastructure, and a real desire to innovate.

According to research by STEM Learning, there is a shortfall of over 170,000 workers across STEM sectors including a significant gap in UK engineering. Some 49% of engineering employers find it hard to recruit candidates with the required skills they need to succeed.

As an engineering company, we’ve struggled with this ‘skills gap’ ourselves. We know there is innovation and opportunity within our shores – but as an industry, and as a country, more can be done to highlight the opportunities for engineers and encourage more young people into the profession. We need to nurture and support talent, create innovation hubs in various towns and cities across the regions. With the right support, and the right talent, UK firms can deliver on a homegrown EV industry strategy.

So why is having an EV industry strategy important?

Infrastructure

As an engineering innovator, Petalite is re-inventing EV charging technology to create robust, scalable and efficient solutions. Our patented technology is redefining what’s possible with rapid charging to better support the UK’s transition away from ICE vehicles. We recognise that robust infrastructure is essential for the growth of the EV industry.

But engineering inventiveness alone is not enough. The UK’s power grid, for instance, has to evolve and improve to accommodate increasing demand for power and connections. Some initiatives have already started – but they need to move faster and be more ambitious. Creating new technologies and solutions that deliver efficient, reliable charging networks, however, takes time. More importantly, it takes engineering skills and capability – both of which are in short supply.

From a skills perspective, there is a need for organisations to attract homegrown talent. To encourage this, we need to enhance travel networks such as trains, trams and buses to ease the commute for workers. This in turn means investment in the regions as well as nationally. Areas such as Birmingham and the wider West Midlands, which have long been considered engineering hubs, need continued investment in infrastructure, housing and transport links so that engineers can confidently build their careers in this engineering heartland. These investments will also ensure that businesses can attract, develop and retain the best talent.

We’ve seen how an investment in infrastructure has helped cities and industries grow. Manchester is a good example, and so too the investment and regeneration projects in London and the Southeast, including the recent Elizabeth line. The Elizabeth line has helped significantly extend the catchment area of employers, and enables employees to live further away from their place of work, safe in the knowledge that they have a quick, reliable and easy journey to their workplace. We need this approach locally and across the UK. While there have been recent successes, there have also been some notable failures, including the costly delay and ultimate cancellation of the second phase of HS2.

It is also true that the talent pool needs to grow rapidly. Research by Stonehaven Consultancy in 2023 warned that the UK is struggling to fill about 59,000 engineering vacancies each year. Stonehaven suggested that should the current trend continue, the country could face a cumulative shortfall of around one million engineers by 2030. The knock-on effect could derail the delivery of major infrastructure and innovation projects including in the EV industry. An investment into bridging this skills gap and promoting engineering is needed to bring this back on track.

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Investment

Of course, this all needs investment. Not just financial, but also an investment of time and resources. To promote homegrown engineering talent, universities and businesses need to align, to ensure that the opportunities are there for graduates – but also that they are ‘industry ready’. It requires colleges and universities to expand the course opportunities available to students and requires schools to promote engineering as a career. The government can play a vital role here by offering grants, scholarships, and incentives for both students and employers to invest in these careers.

The government has already committed to a £500 million investment ($662.6 million) to support postgraduate studies in biological, engineering, and environmental sciences across 45 universities, which is intended to support the next generation of engineers and scientists. This is a welcome start.

Universities across the UK, however, can do more to champion STEM subjects, enhance R&D capabilities, and ensure graduates are equipped not only with theoretical knowledge but also with hands-on experience in emerging energy technologies. We need an engineering workforce that is ready to tackle real-world challenges and drive industry-wide transformation.

Industry can also help with graduate schemes, internships, mentoring, apprenticeships and closer ties with universities. Petalite, for example, has a fantastic relationship with our neighbours at Aston University and aims to build on this relationship as we grow as a business. We want to be able to give students and graduates a real understanding of industry from a hands-on perspective. It’s proof that we can all make a difference, and that a greater combined focus by everyone can help to better promote engineering as a career, and ensure young people are attracted to and excited by the potential careers on offer.

A career in engineering blends creativity, problem solving and the opportunity to make a real, tangible, positive impact on the world. It’s exciting and immensely rewarding. At Petalite we see all of this first hand. Our engineers are given the freedom to innovate and push boundaries. They thrive in an environment where every breakthrough moves us forward and where progress is both visible and meaningful.

We know that in our company the engineering team are driven by more than the technical expertise that they bring; it’s about the opportunity to make real change, to shape the future, and to make significant advancements in technology and sustainability. These positive aspects are essential to emphasise if we want to inspire the next generation of engineers and promote the opportunities in STEM careers. By highlighting that engineers are responsible for real change, that engineering offers the opportunity to be creative, to problem solve and that engineering offers career progression, we can help to close the skills gap and build a resilient future for the industry.

It is often said that opportunity goes hand in hand with innovation. By nurturing our engineering talent, we have the opportunity to create thousands of skilled jobs, strengthen our local, regional and national economies, and truly claim the ‘leadership’ position we crave as a country. With the right support from utilities, policymakers, and the education sector, the UK can take a leading role in creating a world-class EV infrastructure that secures a sustainable future for generations to come.

About the author

Steven Gardener is chief executive officer at Petalite, tasked with leading the company from its R&D phase to full scaled industrialisation, supporting the transition to clean energy mobility.