Salvage Wire

Salvage Wire
Helping Automotive recyclers become leaders in their industry

Friday 2 December 2022

The Life of an EV Trainer

 Cyprus, Spain, Brazil, US, Ireland and Jamaica - just some of the places that electric vehicle technology has taken me so far this year - a life that sounds very glamorous which, in reality, can be the exact opposite.

Don’t get me wrong, this job takes me to places I would never have been to otherwise, puts me in the middle of a amazing communities and people, and  gives the ability to teach about new technology and the future of the automobile; but there are a few downsides, including weeks away from the family, too much time in airports, airplanes and hotels - OK if you like your own company - and lost luggage!

Cyprus - on a British Army base training REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) at the end of March - the UK was getting snowed on and I was in the sunshine.

Spain, likewise, very cold in the UK and pleasantly warm in Spain, training Spanish and Portuguese technicians in English - on-line translation services via a zoom connection are amazing.

Brazil took three flights to get there, again translation services required, but this time with an excellent translator who was with us in person, training at a technical institute with a Prius donated by Toyota that we took the battery out of many, many times - just don’t tell Toyota how many.


USA for training and trade shows - travelling over 2,000 miles whilst across the country.

Ireland. always enjoy travelling to the Emerald Isle - Guinness doesn’t taste the same anywhere else in the world. This time the car was put onto a ferry across the Irish Sea, the only issue is that I live almost as far East as you can get in the UK and the ferry ports to Ireland are on the west coast. Travelling home I board a ferry that gets me into the UK around 1am and I have a 6-7 hour journey across country to home - the benefit at that time of night is the traffic volumes are extremely low. 

And finally to Jamaica - three flights to get there, six hour delay in Miami and no luggage when I got to Kingston - so no tools or PPE for the first two days of training meant quite a bit of improvisation was required, along with a trip to the shops for some clothes and toiletries.


All of this pales into insignificance when you look at the impact of EV training for each of the candidates. In Jamaica all of the candidates were trained to level 3 and also given train the trainer competency, so they can now go out and train another 200 technicians and 200 first responders as Jamaica ramp up their adoption of electric vehicles. The British Army are bringing cleaner vehicles into their fleet and the engineers have to keep them running, dismantlers in Ireland are probably amongst the best trained in the global industry as the Electric Elves programme gives them training at no cost, and I know that the guys in Brazil have taken what they learnt and are now sharing this knowledge with many other candidates in the country.

Everyone who received the training learnt about the new technology, how it works, the benefits it brings to the climate, reduced CO2 emissions and cheaper running costs, as well as how to stay safe when inspections, diagnosing, assessing, transporting or working on these vehicles, and all are better prepared for this revolution in how we run and power our vehicles in the future.

Sounds like fun? Well, come and join us, we are looking for EV trainers who want to travel to customers in their own country or travel the world, for more information contact training@salvagewire.com and send us your CV.

Friday 8 July 2022

Best Management Practice for Electric Vehicles

 Visited a vehicle repairer recently for a pre-arranged training day and was amazed as two of the candidates refused to start the training, one said that he didn’t want to do the training and the other claimed he was too busy. Even more amazingly, the business owner accepted this and allowed them to not complete the training!


The training went ahead with the remaining candidates and it was soon apparent that this repairer did not have any best management practices in place, and any processes that were written down were only there to satisfy business requirements and audits and were, in reality, largely ignored during day to day operations.

When you are dealing with high voltage vehicles this lack of leadership is very worrying, especially with the risks that these vehicles carry, and part of my role as a trainer is to highlight the need for senior people in the business to take responsibility for the safety of themselves, their colleagues and the business; well written and consistently followed best management practices are essential, especially where high voltage vehicles are concerned.


When building a best management practice for high voltage vehicles there are four stages to consider, these are:

  • Vehicle collection/delivery
  • Vehicle receipt and assessment
  • Vehicle Depollution and dismantling
  • Parts storage and shipping


We also need to outline the levels of training required, which are:

  • Electric Vehicle Informed Person (EVIP) - vehicle purchase, senior management, health and safety specialists, parts and shipping
  • Electric Vehicle Competent Person (EVCP)- dismantling and vehicle collection
  • Electric Vehicle Authorised Person (EVAP) - technician assessing condition, powering down and removing HV battery
  • Senior Electric Vehicle Authorised Person (SEVAP) - senior technician who may strip HV battery

 

Vehicle collection

Where is the vehicle coming from, has it already been made safe, are there any special instructions or detailed information that the collection driver needs to be aware of. Equally, if the driver is given any specific instructions about the vehicle when it is picked up are these given to the receiving yard?  

The driver will need to assess the vehicle prior to loading it onto the truck, 

  • Is the battery damaged?
  • Is there any risk the battery may catch fire during transportation?
  • Does the vehicle need to be made safe prior to loading?


Collection drivers training should be equivalent to EVCP with specific training for vehicle recovery or towing



Vehicle receipt and assessment

Who is responsible for receipt of the vehicle, are they qualified and do they have appropriate personal protective equipment?

High voltage vehicles should be parked in a designated area until they have been assessed and powered down?

During the assessment the operator needs to determine the condition and health of the battery, is it suitable for re-sale and re-use, should it go into second use as a stationary storage device or it is only suitable for recycling? 

The vehicle should then be powered down and made safe prior to depollution and dismantling. All of this is ‘live’ work and needs to be completed by a suitably qualified and experienced person - probably an Electric Vehicle Authorised Person



Vehicle Depollution and dismantling

When powered down, or made safe, high voltage vehicles have stored energy that is constrained within the high voltage battery, meaning that the rest of the vehicle can be depolluted and dismantled by suitably trained technicians, minimum of EVCP qualified.

Removing the battery becomes an EVAP operation because of the energy stored within this component.

Some vehicle dismantlers may want to further dismantle the HV battery down to individual modules, and this is SEVAP competency.



Parts storage, sales and shipping

High voltage parts, excluding the HV battery, can be stored in normal parts storage areas as the risk posed by these is no greater than any other component, the HV batteries are a completely different prospect, and you will need a specific storage area with restricted access.

  • Battery chemistry must be kept separate; 
  • batteries need to be secure so they cannot fall or have anything fall on them;
  • keep them dry; 
  • do not stack and follow manual handling processes due to the weight of these components;
  • when shipping these components follow all rules and regulations that apply in the area you are operating as these components are considered to be dangerous or hazardous goods in almost all jurisdictions.


Whoever is responsible for battery storage, sales and shipping must be trained and qualified appropriately, and this will almost certainly be different to the training and qualification that is required for a vehicle dismantler or technician.


Everyone dealing with these vehicles needs to be trained to the appropriate level, and also be equipped with all necessary high voltage personal protective equipment and tools, including, but not limited to:

  • High Voltage Gloves
  • Insulated safety shoes
  • Face/eye protection
  • Safety rescue hook
  • Cat3, 1000v Multimeter
  • High Voltage hand tools
  • Warning signs


The list above is not exhaustive and there could be additional elements that need to be considered, but it is incumbent on all businesses to put steps in place to keep their employees safe, build best management practices, use them, and also when scheduling training make certain all the staff involved know what is happening, when and why their involvement is essential!


If any business would like help to design and build their own best management practice for high voltage vehicles then please contact Andy Latham at Salvage Wire (andy@salvagewire.com).


Saturday 2 July 2022

JAMAICA

It has been a privilege and an honour to be part of the e-drive initiative in Jamaica - training vehicle technicians on electric and hybrid vehicle technology, maintenance and hazard management.

15 technicians are now qualified to IMI Level 3 standard and will be leading the charge as a further 200 technicians and 200 first responders are trained and educated on this technology - all part of the drive to electrify the vehicle fleet in Jamaica over the coming years.


Jamaica is a beautiful country, once out of the city centre or tourist hot spot you are met with a lush, tropical countryside that is largely unspoilt, and some of the beaches need to be seen to be believed - they are stunning with the Caribbean Sea lapping at the shore.

The people are also extremely welcoming and largely very friendly - there is an image of Jamaica being a hot spot for crime, and yes there is a risk of trouble particularly if you are in the wrong area or out at night - but this is little different to other parts of the world, and if you take sensible precautions then you will stay safe.

Driving standards, and the quality of the roads, is generally appalling - I am never going to complain about driving standards or road quality in the UK again (that statement may change on the drive home from Gatwick!) traffic lights just change colour - most taxi drivers and motorcyclists seem to ignore them - overtaking traffic queues, jumping in front of other drivers, tailgating and changing your mind at the last second are normal practices - and if the horn on the vehicle ever failed then this would make the vehicle completely un-driveable - the Jamaicans live with a finger always on the horn button and everywhere you are the sound of vehicle horn is a constant! I saw many vehicles with broken lamps, dented panels and missing bumpers, I was quite surprised not to see many accidents considering how they drive and how busy the roads are in Kingston.

The roads are generally of very poor quality, lots of potholes big enough to damage wheels, tyres and suspension are the norm, poor quality road surfaces and very little drainage so in wet weather there is standing water in many places.

The vehicles on the road are also interesting, lots of Japanese brands are present and many vehicles are Japanese imports (all RHD models) with some of the weird and wonderful models that the Japanese love - one of the most common is the Toyota Probox - a small five door station wagon (estate) type vehicle that is favoured by the many taxi drivers - and more often to be seen with 5 or 6 passengers spread out across the two rows of seats.

There are some prestige models, saw a variety of Mercedes, BMW, Land Rover/Range Rovers, many pick-up trucks and a good presence from Hyundai/Kia, but very little else other than Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda and Subaru.

One surprise was seeing previously UK registered vehicles on the island, these were very obvious because the UK number plates were still on the vehicle and covered over with Jamaican registration plates.



There are some electric and hybrid vehicles around, mainly Toyota models but did see two Nissan Leaf and a BYD full EV - numbers of electric vehicles are currently very low but the ambition of the project I was involved with is to increase these significantly year on year.

Brand new electric vehicles are very costly, so many will come into the country as second hand imports (as many of their current vehicles do now), and one question was raised about the shipment of these vehicles from other countries and the time this takes - sometimes two or three months at sea. 

The vehicle manufacturers have plenty of experience shipping brand new electric vehicles around the world, but how do we safely ship previously used vehicles and not damage the battery by leaving it unused too long?

Looking at vehicle manufacturer data we determined the following for long-term storage - defined by vehicle manufacturers as being more than 30 days without use.

  • The battery needs to be between 30 and 50% charged
  • Battery state of charge needs to be monitored periodically - one manufacturer stated every four weeks, another every six weeks - and charged if the level drops below 20% state of charge
  • Some differences on the 12v battery, one manufacturer advised that the 12v battery should be disconnected to reduce load, another stated that the 12v battery should remain connected so the battery state of charge could be monitored.
  • All manufacturer data reviewed mentioned ambient temperature for storage - some specifying minimum and maximum temperatures, others stating that the vehicle should not be allowed to get hot and should be stored at ambient temperature. Figures of -10c and +30c were mentioned as limits by one manufacturer.

In summary, Jamaica may be late to the party on electric vehicles but they are catching up fast and using the knowledge that China, the EU and North America have developed over the last 24 years to make certain they adapt quickly for this new technology. There are some challenges though, including:

  • Road quality
  • Driving standards
  • Awareness and understanding of electric and hybrid vehicles
  • The possible damage long term shipping may have to the HV equipment on pre-used vehicles from other countries.

Some of these issues need intervention from the Jamaican authorities; as an industry we can help with:

  • Sourcing pre-used RHD vehicles
  • Helping with the supply of pre-used parts, particularly suspension, steering, lamps and bolt on body panels - could a UK vehicle dismantler set up a partnership with a Jamaican used parts company?
  • Investigating the implications of putting an EV on a ship for two months,  how this could degrade the HV battery and what could be done to reduce this impact.


Thanks must go to Heart NSTA Trust, Green Solutions International, IDB Labs and JPS Foundation in Jamaica and Eintac in the UK - without all of these this project would not have been possible.

EINTAC  - Use discount code ES10 for 10% discount off all orders

Heart NSTA Trust 

JPS Foundation 

IDB Labs 

Project E-Drive