November/December Issue 64 - Flipbook - Page 6
GRAHAM’S GAB
GRAHAM’S GAB
LET’S TOUCH BASE WITH GRAHAM IN THIS MONTH’S GRAHAM’S GAB
relying on fossil fuels and I will not
attempt to write an opinion piece
on climate change – that is far
from my realm of expertise, but we
must explore what can be done.
However, what we must ensure
is that both the infrastructure is in
place to sustain and support these
vehicles but more importantly
the understanding of their use,
operation and for our industry –
how to deal with them when it all
goes wrong.
Graham Steedman
Business Consultant
Mobile: 07864 673533
Email: graham@avrouk.com
I am not sure about you, but
where does the time go? It
literally feels like yesterday that
I was writing my article for April
and here we are already into
May.
April and May so far have seen
another busy month of activity for
me from meetings with Highways
England,
potential
business
partners as well as welcoming on
board new members and assisting
current members.
ELECTRIC & HYBRID
VEHICLES
This month I am going to focus
on what I feel is a very pertinent
and crucial issue for our industry:
electric and hybrid vehicles.
I think it is worth starting by first
saying that I firmly believe in the
reasoning behind electric vehicles;
it is quite clear that we cannot
continue our current course of
06
I have been involved in many
conversations on this topic with
not only a broad range of roadside
recovery operators but also with
my colleagues in AVRO who are
involved in high level dialogue with
HM Government, DfT, HSE, MIRA
and other industry stakeholders
and the broad consensus is that
the industry is not prepared for
the onset of electric and hybrid
vehicles.
Now don’t get me wrong, this
industry (more than others)
knows what it is doing and what
is expected of us, but it cannot
be denied that these vehicles
are a culture change for our
industry – they bring with them a
new way of working, which have
repercussions far more than
standard fuelled vehicles.
An example: one of my AVRO
colleagues raised in a recent
discussion is that the way the
industry carries out its day to day
tasks will need to change – take
a standard vehicle, say a Ford
Focus that has been involved in a
collision and has ended up on its
roof in the road – without creating
an elaborate situation, but I am
sure you will agree most operators
would recover the vehicle in a
perfectly safe manner but first
righting the vehicle, most likely
by winching it over and at one
point and in a safe manner gravity
would take over and the vehicle
returns to the upright position.
With an electric vehicle that would
potentially no longer be the case
– most electric vehicles have their
high voltage battery underneath
the vehicle – allowing a vehicle to
be righted and at one point fall to
the ground under its own weight
may cause damage to the high
voltage battery and regardless of
the vehicle being isolated or not,
there is potential for substantial
consequences of the high voltage
battery being compromised.
There is much debate at this time
as to what level roadside recovery
operators should be trained in
respect of these vehicles.
Should it be a level of awareness?
Should it be a level which allows
the vehicle to be isolated by
the high voltage service plug?
Should it be to a level as others
are required in the motor trade to
undertake in depth work on these
vehicles – and you know as well
as I do the next element of this
training is cost. The higher you
go up the options above then, of
course, the higher the cost.
It brings me to an important point –
how are work providers, insurance
companies, Police and others
who rely on this industry going
to view the processes required
for attending to such vehicles in
