Europe’s repair shops shun EVs: skills and safety gap
Electric car servicing in Europe: why many garages refuse EVs
Europe’s repair shops shun EVs: skills and safety gap
Across Europe, many repair shops refuse electric cars over high-voltage safety rules, lack of certified technicians, and costly battery risks for EV owners.
2025-10-12T23:24:45+03:00
2025-10-12T23:24:45+03:00
2025-10-12T23:24:45+03:00
Across Europe, more and more repair shops are turning away electric cars, even as their popularity climbs. On paper, EVs are more reliable than combustion models, yet when something does go wrong the picture changes: many garages lack the right qualifications, and the risk of electric shock when dealing with 800-volt systems is simply too high.Electrical safety rules allow only technicians certified for high-voltage systems to work on an EV. In the EU, this is governed by Royal Decree 614/2001. Doing the job properly requires training and certified equipment—things most independent workshops simply don’t have. As a result, EV owners are increasingly told that their cars won’t be serviced.Some workshops take the opposite route and accept EVs without proper preparation—a gamble that can end in a short circuit, a fire, or a voided warranty. Mistakes around the battery are especially costly: replacing the pack can exceed a million rubles, whereas a skilled specialist can restore only the damaged cells.The market hardly looks ready for a broad shift to electric power. Until a real network of certified centers appears, even a minor fault can turn into a serious ordeal for an EV owner—both in terms of risk and money.
EV repair Europe, electric car servicing, high-voltage safety, certified technicians, independent workshops, battery replacement cost, EU regulations, Royal Decree 614/2001, EV maintenance
2025
Michael Powers
news
Electric car servicing in Europe: why many garages refuse EVs
Across Europe, many repair shops refuse electric cars over high-voltage safety rules, lack of certified technicians, and costly battery risks for EV owners.
Michael Powers, Editor
Across Europe, more and more repair shops are turning away electric cars, even as their popularity climbs. On paper, EVs are more reliable than combustion models, yet when something does go wrong the picture changes: many garages lack the right qualifications, and the risk of electric shock when dealing with 800-volt systems is simply too high.
Electrical safety rules allow only technicians certified for high-voltage systems to work on an EV. In the EU, this is governed by Royal Decree 614/2001. Doing the job properly requires training and certified equipment—things most independent workshops simply don’t have. As a result, EV owners are increasingly told that their cars won’t be serviced.
Some workshops take the opposite route and accept EVs without proper preparation—a gamble that can end in a short circuit, a fire, or a voided warranty. Mistakes around the battery are especially costly: replacing the pack can exceed a million rubles, whereas a skilled specialist can restore only the damaged cells.
The market hardly looks ready for a broad shift to electric power. Until a real network of certified centers appears, even a minor fault can turn into a serious ordeal for an EV owner—both in terms of risk and money.
