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The motor industry is warning there are not enough mechanics trained to service and repair a surging number of electric and hybrid vehicles on our roads.
Pure battery electric vehicles make up about 1.5 percent of the country's total fleet - with 68,853 EVs on the roads as of the end of October. There are a further 230,000 hybrids.
The Ministry of Transport is forecasting the pure electric fleet to more than double to up to as much as 150,000 by the end of next year.
The Motor Trade Association says the number of mechanics being trained is not enough to keep up.
The automotive and engineering academic leader at Otago Polytechnic, Hamish Miller, says he wants a nationwide framework similar to what he has seen in Australia.
An electric car of the company Tesla is charged at a charging station on a parking lot in Cologne, Germany, in June 2023. Photo: Horst Galuschka / DPA / dpa Picture-Alliance via AFP