The auto auction industry’s two most prominent associations announced a collaboration to work together on issues concerning electric vehicles.

The National Auto Auction Association and International Automotive Remarketers Alliance are joining together with a focus on topics such as safety, standards and education for the benefit of the industry.

The associations agreed to collaborate last month at IARA’s Summer Roundtable in Chicago and details are being discussed this week at the NAAA World Remarketing Convention. NAAA and IARA joining forces for several education sessions at the convention, and IARA is sponsoring three general sessions – “Key Insights into the EV Market and Commercial EV Sales”, “EV Management: Safety and Best Practices for Auctions and Remarketers” and “Consignor Trends, Sentiment and Remarketing Outlook.”

Among the topics addressed in the sessions are the current state of the industry, EV sales trends and evolving best practices related to the safe handling and effective remarketing of EVs at auctions.

NAAA’s Auction Standards and Safety and Security committees have begun studying issues related to EVs and tapping into the knowledge and expertise of their members, while IARA’s EV committee is focused on educating its membership on a range of EV topics, such as battery safety and improving the consistency of remarketing processes to maintain fair market wholesale values.

NAAA executive director Paul Lips said the committees “have done a great job taking the lead on EV issues on behalf of our members. I’m excited to see what the future holds with NAAA and IARA working together for the benefit of the entire industry on a topic that is top of mind for all of our members.”

As part of IARA’s certification and education, it is continuing to develop more online information for EVs, and its EV committee has engaged industry experts, including Recurrent and Call2Recycle, a non-profit organization focused on safe handling of EV batteries and recycling options.

“IARA and its member committees are excited about the opportunity to collaborate with NAAA on a range of EV topics for the benefit of the industry,” IARA executive director Mark Coleman said. “The combined resources of our two organizations can deliver actionable advice and meaningful standards to all our stakeholders as EVs begin to enter the wholesale remarketing bloodstream.”