According to the Electric Vehicle Council, Australia has reached a milestone in 2024, recording more than 100,000 sales of electric vehicles (EVs) for the year.
While most of those sales will likely be to customers living in metropolitan locations, such a healthy percentage (around 10 per cent) of the national new-vehicle sales market means that EVs will surely start appearing in growing numbers in rural and regional areas. Diesel and petrol power may be the norm for many years, but it has never been more important for businesses across Queensland to take the EV revolution seriously.
MTA Queensland recognises the importance of helping businesses across the state prepare for the arrival of EVs and in November, ran its first EV-related course in regional Queensland.
Held in the country town of St George, about 500km west of Brisbane, the course run was was AURETH101- Depower and Reinitialise Battery Electric Vehicles, a course designed to upskill technicians with the skills to safely depower and reinitialise Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs). It involves ensuring the vehicles’ high voltage rechargeable energy storage system (RESS) is isolated before commencing any service or repair work and calibrating vehicle systems that may need resetting once the energy storage system is reinitialised.
The course was run at the facilities of Maranoa Mechanical, a Repco authorised service workshop that offers a wide range of maintenance and repair services. From passenger vehicles to heavy diesel trucks, Maranoa Mechanical can work on just about any vehicle and offers the full range of services, including auto electrical. They are also the RACQ contractor for the area and even have the baggage handling contract at for Rex Airlines St George Airport.
Using a social media and online hashtag of #WeKeepYouMoving, means it is important that Maranoa Mechanical be able to deliver on that promise, and that has led business owners Emily Martin and Brad Goldthorpe to look at expanding its service offerings to include electrified vehicles. Emily said that securing EV training for the business had been an important move and under consideration for some time.
“We’re very much a rural area where there are a lot of diesel 4WDs running around,” said Emily. “That’s probably not going to change anytime soon, but there are some hybrids starting to move around, we have seen a Tesla driving through town, and because of our role with RACQ we have to be able to handle whatever comes in on the back of a tow truck.”
Delivered by Nigel Palmer, the MTA Institute’s Technical Learning and Development Officer, the training course attendees included staff from Maranoa Mechanical and another technician who travelled in from Tara, about 3 hours north-east of St George.
It was, said Nigel, a positive experience for everyone involved, with Maranoa Mechanical being extremely helpful by providing not only a suitable location but also arranging for a couple of electrified vehicles to join the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV which Nigel brought along as a training resource.
“The training went really well,” said Nigel. “Maranoa Mechanical has a mix of long-term technicians and up-and-coming apprentices and they, along with the technician from Tara, were all very engaged. They all took away a better understanding of EVs and were happy with the course.”
For Emily and her team, the course ensures Maranoa Mechanical can continue its journey to being able to service every need, including future needs, of the community. However, there were other considerations that led Emily to engage with MTA Queensland.
Working with EVs does, said Emily, have business potential and they are offering not only regular EV maintenance and servicing but considering offering EV conversion services. There is also the fact that delivering professional development opportunities for their team is important to keep their skills up to date and to ensure their personal ambitions are met.
“They’re all interested to learn new things . . . that means they can be good at what they do, be professionals and continue to learn, and it makes what they do interesting, even while living six hours from Brisbane,” said Emily.
“We do have long-term team members, and we put a lot of effort into trying to make our workplace an attractive workplace. The way you value and treat your team is really important.”
Delivering a successful course in remote and/or regional Queensland requires careful planning. The number of attendees, having a suitable location, and ensuring enough training resources are available are all issues to be considered. Working closely with local members is vital in making sure that everyone gets what they need from a course.
“We are committed to helping and guiding industry in this time of change, and we will travel to present these courses, logistics permitting, across Queensland,” said Nigel. “A large amount of equipment is required to present these courses effectively, so each request and location will need to be assessed before a total commitment is made but be assured that it is our goal to ensure everyone in the industry who wants to undertake EV training has the opportunity to do so.”
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Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (November 2024 / December 2025)
28 January 2025