Deliver Internationally Recognised Qualifications

Partnering with the IMI, the internationally leading qualification supplier in the automotive industry, Lucas-Nülle is now offering a full-service package. The Lucas-Nülle brand LN Academy has succefully implemented a certification program for internationally recognized electric vehicle qualifications at Universities in China and South America. This is how the manufacturer of training systems is meeting the urgent demand for Electric Vehicle specialists all over the world.

How high voltage is changing the automotive industry

As we have seen over the past couple of years, with the trend set to continue unabated, electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are becoming more and more widespread. However, with this trend comes huge challenges which need to be met by everyone in the industry. EVs and HEVs contain high voltage batteries and utilise high voltages to drive three phase electric motors. This technology has been widely known for a long time to industrial sectors such as electrical engineering. For those involved in automotive, however it is a huge shift in technology.

From service and repair personnel (both technical and non-technical), to the drivers of these vehicles and the police and rescue personnel who may need to retrieve people from accident damaged vehicles: Special procedures and care needs to be taken to be safe and effective while operating and maintaining EVs. Even at the end of the useful life of the vehicle, automotive recyclers need to be trained on how to dismantle and recycle vehicles safely.

There is a growing need for skilled EV and HEV professionals

Even just a few short years ago, hybrid vehicles were limited to a few niche manufacturers and pure electric vehicles were even more rare. Now, however, every manufacturer is building or planning to build vehicles with some sort of high voltage system on board. It is fair to say that every person involved with vehicles in any way, shape or form will encounter high voltage vehicles in the not too distant future. That is why governments, vehicle manufacturers and insurance companies probably will impose licensing or minimum training standards before any work can be done on these vehicles.

Consequentially, manufacturers are desperate to train technicians to be able to maintain these vehicles. They need to ensure that their customers have a positive experience when a vehicle experience inevitable failure. Only then will they continue on as customers and not go elsewhere. It is going to require a huge effort to ensure that everyone is correctly trained and qualified to operate and work on EV and HEV.

Lucas-Nülle is partnering with the qualification world leader IMI

The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) is the only dedicated awarding body that is able to offer international automotive qualifications. The world leader in electric vehicle qualifications can cover all people that might come into contact with high voltage vehicles. That includes drivers and non-technical service personnel, repair technicians and something that has curiously piqued interest amongst customers – qualifications for rescue personnel.

Because of this, Lucas-Nülle have teamed up with the IMI to offer a complete solution when it comes to electric vehicle qualifications. Starting today, Lucas-Nülle is not only able to provide the training equipment – which imparts critical practical skills to be safe on high voltage vehicles – but also provide the eLearning courses and assessments.

A singular chance for internationally recognized qualification

All these courses are fully aligned to the various IMI EV qualifications. IMI centre approval, all of the training and other steps necessary to undertake the qualifications can now be delivered by Lucas-Nülle in a single package.

This will make it easier than ever before to become an IMI Approved Centre, which is tantamount to being able to train and qualify people to the highest standards. Representatives from both organisations recently met together at IMI headquarters in London to sign an MOU and seal the cooperation.

Internal tests for quality assurance lead to first successful projects

Lucas-Nülle product managers and trainers were initially trained by IMI Quality Assurance staff and completed the qualifications themselves. Using the LN training and assessment material resulted with all employees gaining the symbolical Level 3 qualifications. Training hardware and eLearning is currently being developed to deliver the Level 4 – working inside the high voltage battery. It is expected to be finished soon. Both the LN and the IMI quality assurance team were happy with the results. “The test results of this ground-breaking project totally lived up to our expectations”, says Daniel Brown, “we are now looking forward to the successful implementation with the customers.”

As a result of these tests, the first centers that offer IMI Certification using LN Training Systems have now been opened in China and Ecuador. "The first reactions of the participants are overwhelming and the demand appears to be huge," says Brown, who is happy to answer any questions to any institute that is interested to realize EV Qualification.