Electric vehicle sales in the United States climbed 35 percent year on year to nearly 300,000 in the first quarter of 2025, Cox Automotive data show, market growth is racing ahead of the labor pool that installs public chargers. The UK is having problems finding enough electricians to install, one of the biggest challenges are for training providers to keep up with demand for ev charging courses, Mr Mannu from Elec Training stated that “standard electrician courses are not enough when training individuals on how to install EV chargers safely, he believes the government needs to do more on addressing the short fall. “I know at times people are quick to blame the government, I don’t think this is a blame game but more for the government to lead the situation before it becomes critical, maybe its time to take a leaf out of the book of the USA and see how they had adapted to the needs quicker”
In the USA electricians who hold the EV Infrastructure Training Program certificate, the industry gold standard, number about 27,000 nationwide which as proportion is higher than the UK, but they do have their own shortfalls, the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure plan alone demands crews for roughly 500,000 fast-charge ports by 2030,
Why the shortfall matters
Peak power demand from AI data centers and mass EV adoption is projected to rise 38 percent this decade, National Grid USA reports, without enough licensed labor, utilities warn of construction delays and cost overruns on feeder upgrades.
Benchmark statistic – “Fast-charger demand is running four times ahead of certified labor supply,” said Bret Wiseman, policy director at the Electrification Coalition, his team tracks federal project filings.
EV growth by the numbers
The International Energy Agency forecasts US EV sales will top 1.4 million units in 2025, global deliveries could exceed 20 million. Each new vehicle requires home or workplace wiring, public DC fast chargers, and utility load balancing. The EV charging market is set to climb from 7.3 billion dollars in 2024 to 12.1 billion by 2030, Markets and Markets projects.
Arizona, Texas, and Florida lead in new DC sites, yet state licensing boards confirm fewer than half of applicants arrive with networked-charger experience. Los Angeles County alone needs 1,200 additional electricians by 2027 to meet city-owned charger targets, according to its Department of Water and Power.
Training bottlenecks
Traditional apprenticeships still emphasize conduit and branch circuits, few schools own 350-kW hardware or teach software commissioning for smart chargers. EVITP is a twenty-hour online module costing 275 dollars, adoption is uneven outside big cities. Chicago IBEW Local 134 graduates a class of forty monthly, instructor Lisa Carden says she would need to triple output to meet regional demand.
In the Southeast, Savannah Technical College added a mobile charger lab in March, funded by a 2.7 million dollar Energy Department grant, enrollment filled in three days. The lab lets apprentices practise cable management, credit-card terminal setup, and network checks, tasks rarely covered in legacy coursework.
Expert quote – “Our survey found 61 percent of contractors reject or delay EV bids because they cannot staff certified crews,” said David Long, CEO of the National Electrical Contractors Association.
Money on the table
The Inflation Reduction Act offers a thirty percent tax credit for charging projects that meet prevailing wage and apprentice quotas, however, small contractors say first-year pay rules increase bid prices. A typical rural site costs 180,000 dollars to wire and commission, according to consulting firm PowerFlex, labor is about one third.
To offset costs, the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation will distribute 30 million dollars in August for new college labs and instructor stipends, priority will go to states with fewer than fifty EVITP electricians per million residents.
Technology shift
New chargers are more than wires and conduit. Installers must program load-management firmware, integrate solar or battery storage, and secure network connections. Cybersecurity basics are now part of the EVITP exam. Apprentices also study Advanced Metering Infrastructure so they can coordinate with utility demand-response systems.
Some regulators argue the shortage is overstated. Nevada’s energy office says market forces will pull electricians into EV work once hourly rates rise. Yet labor economists warn that retraining seasoned electricians takes time, and first-year apprentices cannot run projects solo, creating a lag even if wages climb quickly.
Congress is debating the Charge Up Workforce Act, a bipartisan bill proposing a 50 million dollar annual grant to states that embed charger modules in all public trade schools. The Labor Department will publish a rule next spring that could let virtual reality training hours count toward the 144-hour off-the-job requirement in federal apprenticeships, a change supporters say would double classroom throughput without new buildings.
