Vehicle Electrification Expo, Birmingham, July 2026

The Vehicle Electrification Expo takes place at the NEC Birmingham on 8 and 9 July 2026. With over 200 exhibitors and 180 speakers, it is a different kind of event to the UK Garage and Bodyshop show: heavier on the supply chain and manufacturing side, and attended more by fleet operators and OEM procurement teams than by independent workshops.

That said, it is worth knowing about.

Why independent workshops should pay attention

The equipment and technology on show at the VE Expo is a reasonable indicator of what will be on the road and coming into workshops in 12 to 36 months. Battery chemistry advances, new charging standards, thermal management systems, and the high-voltage architectures being designed into upcoming vehicle platforms all have a direct bearing on what tools and training independent garages will need.

You do not need to attend to benefit from it. But if you are making purchasing decisions on diagnostic equipment or EV tooling in the second half of this year, reading coverage from the show is useful context for where the industry is actually heading, rather than just what the aftermarket has caught up to so far.

What the show covers

The programme focuses on EV drivetrain technology, battery systems, charging infrastructure and the integration of electrification into commercial vehicle fleets. There are dedicated conference tracks on grid integration, fleet electrification economics, and the service and maintenance implications of high-voltage systems at scale. The last of those is the most relevant to the workshop sector.

Logistics

NEC Birmingham, 8-9 July 2026. Registration and ticket information at ve-expo.com.

We will cover what comes out of the show that is directly relevant to independent workshop operators. For advance reading on EV servicing equipment, see our piece on getting your workshop ready for EVs in 2026.