Life-long learning
The arrival of the electric car, around the turn of the Millennium, heralded a change in the trade of car dismantling – albeit a gradual one. In 2013, ARN started giving training courses for dismantling batteries from electric vehicles. And since 2020, this course has been given by leading training institute, Innovam.
E-vehicles are equipped with a High Voltage (HV) system, which if approached incorrectly can discharge voltages that can literally be life-threatening. This is why it can be a matter of life and death that a dismantler is familiar with the workings of such an electrical system and thus able to work on it safely. In 2011, partly as a result of the gradual increase in the number of hybrid and electric cars reaching end-of-life, ARN decided to investigate the impact these cars were about to have on the car-recycling chain. The investigation, which was carried out in collaboration with other parties, concluded that dismantling electric cars calls for specific knowledge and expertise. It requires trained personnel, following brand-specific dismantling instructions.
According to ARN Project Leader Rob van der Linden, there is no specific training programme for a car dismantler and companies often train employees to be dismantlers internally. With the advent of hybrid and electric cars, a clear need arose for specific training to dismantle electric vehicles. “If an untrained person tries to de-energise an electric car, certain risks are involved. And, of course, as is the case with fossil-fuel-driven cars, we want to recover as many high-value raw materials as possible. Given that no suitable training programme existed, we decided at ARN to develop one, in collaboration with Innovam.”
Developments and innovations
In 2013, Van der Linden was one of the first trainers of the ARN electric-vehicles course. “Initially, training courses mainly attracted employees of car-dismantling companies that processed younger cars. At the time, ARN offered the course free-of-charge for one employee per affiliated car-dismantling company. The rationale behind this being that there would then be at least one hands-on employee in each company with the necessary know-how to safely dismantle electric and hybrid cars. Back then, the number of electric cars being dismantled was still very low, so one such employee was enough.”
But during these past few years, developments and innovations in electric driving have really taken off, so the training programme itself was revamped, in 2019. Furthermore, there was also a need for students who had already completed the electric-vehicles course to be given refresher training.
“By following the course on the safe dismantling of electric vehicles, dismantlers are complying with current requirements for working safely on them
Rob van der Linden, ARN
70 years’ experience
This then, is the context in which ARN, in collaboration with Innovam, developed a training course for the safe dismantling of electric cars, according to the NEN 9140 standard. The course has been given by Innovam since 2020. “Truth be told, I’m quite proud of the fact that ARN had a hand in bringing all this about,” concedes Van der Linden. “Innovam has been around for more than 70 years and for all this time has also been training automotive-industry professionals. And now there is also a specific training programme for car dismantling, for which ARN played an important and stimulative role. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the corona pandemic coincided with Innovam’s rollout of the course, so fewer people than hoped for were trained. In the meantime, training has now resumed, albeit in small groups.”
Training safe dismantling
“By following this course on the safe dismantling of electric vehicles, dismantlers are complying with current requirements for working safely on them. Together with Innovam, we are delivering bespoke solutions that meet the contemporary needs of the car-recycling chain,” continues Van der Linden. The course is perfectly attuned to the needs of employees working in the car-dismantling sector. On successful completion, the participant receives a certificate (NEN 9140) showing he or she can safely dismantle an e-vehicle. As it did in 2020, in 2021 ARN will reimburse the full training costs for one employee per car-dismantling company affiliated with ARN. Partial reimbursements are applicable for the second and third employees. With every battery pack being different, it is also important – even if the employee has passed the course – that the manufacturer’s information system (IDIS) is always followed. This system provides dismantling information per make and model.
Life-long learning
Van der Linden stresses that the emergence of modern technologies and a variety of drive technologies, including hydrogen technology, will further increase the need for well- and up-to-the-minute-trained personnel. “In the past, prior training wasn’t necessary to work as a car dismantler, but nowadays you increasingly need specific knowledge and expertise in the trade.”
With developments in the field of electric driving moving so quickly, NEN mandates periodic refresher training. “While one car might have a 30kg battery pack in its boot, another could have a 400kg battery pack slung underneath it. Their dismantling calls for different approaches. As Leo Fransen of Innovam once so aptly put it: ‘Whereas it was mainly important to have two right hands and the willingness to use them, modern vehicles need so much more’.”
Sustainable Development Goals
For the fourth year, ARN has measured itself against the benchmarks of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the context of being “lean and green”. The SDGs depicted here apply specifically to the content of this page.
