Sparks' Headache as EV Charger Firm Goes Bust

- Coming up on this week's news, as the first major EV charger firm goes bust, we ask where this leaves its worried customers. Electricians have reported that over a quarter of all faults that they see pose an immediate danger to life, and is the British plug really the best designed in the world? An American influencer thinks so. Welcome to Electrical News Weekly in association with myenergi.

Whether you're listening in the van, on site, or down at the wholesale counter, I'm Joe Robinson and I've been through the best of the electrical industry news to save you the trouble. And as always, if you think you've spotted the two words that I've been challenged to slip into this week's show, comment them below for the chance to win a prize.

A major British electric vehicle charger manufacturer has gone bust. Muller EV, which trades as Andersen EV, entered administration this month. The administrators blame supply chain problems in the car industry for the collapse of the firm. And now customers with the brand's premium home chargers and apps are concerned that they will no longer be supported.

Specifically, they're anxious that if their charge points no longer communicate with Andersen in the cloud, then they could default to dumb mode. This means a loss of functionality, such as scheduling, and even worse some worry that the chargers can enter lock mode. This means the app can't communicate with it at all. Additionally, they fear that their apps won't be updated and will cease to function when their phones operating systems are updated.

The hope is that the administrators can find a buyer for the company who will continue to back Andersen users in the UK. We'll keep you posted of any developments in this story.

In a further headache for the sector, it's been revealed that tradesmen without the right qualifications are installing electric vehicle charge points across the country. A report from the consultant, Pye Tait, on behalf of the Electro Technical Skills Partnership, states that there is rising concern that not all installers are sufficiently competent or qualified to do the job. It says that many of those attending courses on how to install EV chargers are not fully qualified electricians.

Instead, they're simply switching from other lower skilled sectors, such as smart meter installation. The report says that the courses are designed only for fully qualified electricians as a bolt-on qualification. They are not intended for anyone else. The authors say that there is now immediate concern around the safety and quality of EV charge points installed by these individuals. There are also wider worries about the potential de-skilling of the sector.

Separate research shows that nearly all of the working electricians it surveyed believed there were significant risks with EV charging work but only 28% have received specific training. The research found that a lack of appropriate training and skills could be leading to thousands of unsafe installations of EV chargers.

The ECA has responded by saying that it is working with awarding bodies to strengthen entry requirements so that all those enrolling on these courses are already fully qualified electricians.

Still on safety, a website where electricians can report unsafe and non-compliant electrical installation work has revealed that over a quarter of the dodgy deeds logged with it are an immediate threat to life. Some 27% of the work on the site is classified as a C1 hazard. In all but one case, it was immediately reported to the occupier or landlord. The website is a collaboration between the Electrical Safety Roundtable and TrustMark.

It's designed to raise awareness of substandard work and provide insights into what's happening on the ground. The owners say that since its launch in January, it has unearthed some truly shocking situations. Contractors can also submit photographs of the unsafe work and until a way is found for these dodgy workers to get their comeuppance, I've popped a link in the show notes for if you find any.

In van news this week, the most efficient model for electricians has been revealed. The diesel version of the Vauxhall Corsa van costs just £13,875 and will take you a stonking 847 miles on one tank. That's the equivalent of driving from London to Manchester and back again, twice. That's according to research by Toolstation. The Corsa van isn't huge, so if you wanted something bigger, consider the Peugeot Partner. It ranks second overall in the list.

It will cost £15,825 to buy and you can go 884 miles on a full tank. The vehicle that covers the most miles on a full tank, however, is the Citroen Dispatch. It reaches close to 968 miles. Though petrol is cheaper than diesel at the pump, the distance on a full tank is lower across the board, meaning a petrol van will likely have you spending more on fuel overall. The Vauxhall Corsa van comes in as the most fuel efficient van in the petrol ranking too.

The van costs just £12,038 to purchase from new and just £190 per year in road tax. At 52.3 miles per gallon, the petrol van will take you 517 miles on a full tank. The experts also liked the Citroen Berlingo which will take you the furthest of all petrol vans at 574 miles per full tank. The model misses out on a higher ranking due to a greater cost of purchase and tax per year.

In their electric vehicle rankings, the Fiat E-Doblò takes the top spot as the most economic electric van thanks to its reasonable price tag of £27,855. The model also boasts a large battery capacity and will reach 173 miles on one charge. The vehicle you'll have to charge the least is the Renault ZOE van, which will take you 245 miles per charge. That's 112 miles over the average.

They say electric vans are perfect for tradesmen who stay close to base, but not for those who cover longer journeys. Now, did you notice I said tradesmen there?

Some people think it's time to drop the word completely. Amy Nichols, who runs her own electrical contracting business in North London, has told The Sun newspaper that the word discriminates against women and she's surprised that the word tradesman is still being used. Instead, she says, we should use non-gendered language such as sparkies, chippies and brickies because these words celebrate her expertise and not her gender. What do you think? Pop your view in the comments.

And finally, something to cheer us up a bit.

An influential American YouTuber has declared that the sturdy British plug is probably the best designed in the entire world. Nils, who's known as LRN2DIY says that compared to their US equivalents, UK plugs are planet sized, but he also told his thousands of viewers that they are a lot safer. He points out some things that we Brits just take for granted, like a long earth pin and insulation on the other two pins to stop people getting electrocuted.

Meanwhile, unlike American plugs, fuses are built-in so that an appliance can't blow a building's entire circuit. He also points out that inside the plug, the line is the shortest conductor, so if for some reason the cable is pulled out of the plug this one is disconnected first. Not sure I entirely agree with that point but we'd like to hear what you think. We've also created a video celebrating the understated genius of this magnificent device.

So check that out and let's all take a moment out to be as cocky as a cockatoo as we bask in the glow of the great three pinned plug. That's it for this week, but coming up on our YouTube channel,

Gordon and Gary review the Milwaukee cable stapler and hopefully finally lay to rest, the debate about whether the staples are fire resistant by setting fire to some cables. What could possibly go wrong? I'll also be playing a round of car park catchphrase by figuring out if a multi-storey car park is classed as outdoors or not.

All this plus some content we're desperately hoping we've been given approval to release over the weekend, so make sure you subscribe and have your notifications on so you don't miss any content. If you think you know the words I've smuggled into today's show, pop your guess into the comments and we'll dig out a goody bag prize to the first to get the right answers.

Last week's words were hypersonic and non-fungible and to be honest I was gonna let it go if someone got the fungible part as I'm not convinced non-fungible is a single word. But then days after the release, we finally got the two correct words in full from Kevin Pearson. So well done to you, Kevin. Please click the link in the description below but bear in mind, Joe 2.0 is on holiday for a few days, so don't expect it to arrive within the next six to eight working months.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Electrical News Weekly in association with myenergi. Make sure you subscribe to receive the next update and until next time, have a great week. Stay safe out there. And remember, there's no such thing as I torque calibrated arm.