When I started on the bench as an apprentice back in 1959, my favourite vehicle to work on was a Jaguar XK 150 with a D type head and three SU carburetors. Its top speed was about 135 miles per hour and it went 0-60 mph in seven seconds. This was was awesome for a heavy vehicle.
It had front and rear disc brakes with the electrics designed by Lucas. To this day it is still a beautiful vehicle and has stood the test of time. But technology has moved on and still appears to be moving faster than we can manage to keep up.
Vehicle repairs have taken a hit as quality continues to improve forcing us kicking and screaming into the preventative maintenance business, which some stores still struggle with. Extended service inter- vals also continue to increase as manufacturers push to reduce the cost of maintaining the vehicle, which has made a negative impact on both the parts, labour and service department bottom line.
The future of electric vehicles
Market projections vary on the sales of electric vehicles. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosen predicts electric vehicles will make up 10 percent of global vehicle sales, reaching about eight million by 2020.
Other analysts believe that battery powered vehicles will struggle to reach beyond one or two percent of the global total by 2020. Either way, electric vehicles are coming and the future won’t wait for us to get our act together to service them.
Do you understand the impact it will have on your service depart- ment? How will you stay profitable with vehicles that require low maintenance? Obviously selling batteries will produce some revenue but the price for some of these could cause your customers to go into cardiac arrest!
The cost of doing business
Some of you have already had to bear the expense of buying equipment and training staff, even though you might not see a vehicle for a few more years. By then, technology may move to another power source, forcing you into more expense that could be tough to recover.
Most electric vehicles will have fewer moving parts which will reduce the cost of maintenance. Regenerative braking, using the motor to slow down the vehicle whilst also generating power to be stored in the batter- ies or a set of capacitors will also lower the wear on the brakes.
Some OEM’s claim the only maintenance necessary is a battery check once per month and to change the brushes on the motor at 128,000 kilo- metres. One article I came across states that Ford expects less maintenance for the electric Focus, which lists 25 maintenance items that will not have to be performed. These include air filter, engine oil, power steering fluid, radiator fluid, transmission fluid, spark plugs – the list goes on.
Special batteries will be costly
Today we have batteries based on lead acid, nickel cadmium, nickel metal hydride and lithium ion. Although the battery in an electric vehicle doesn’t require much maintenance, some will gradually lose their ability to hold a charge, thus affecting the driving range. Some estimates are that the battery will last around 160,000 kms which might appear okay until it has to be replaced.
In the past, leading manufacturers of typewriters predicted that computers with word processing powers would not last and die out. There are a number of ivory tower theorists in our own industry, who attempt to predict the future and often get it wrong.
So I’ll give it a try: without a major breakthrough in battery technology, in 10 years time electric vehicles will become obsolete!
The cost of doing business
Have you worked out the negative impact of electric vehicles on the fixed operation in dollars and cents?
For example, what impact will it have on hours per repair order? How many technicians will require training and at what cost?
Some of you may think electric vehicles are a long way off, but many of you are facing huge expenses right now.
For example when you send a technician for training, you lose their productivity which is tough enough. But how much is your manufac- turer charging you? It appears that some manufacturers are charging nothing, whilst others are using training as a profit centre.
How much are you spending on tools, equipment and special gloves to protect the technicians from high current? Do you think that you will get a return on your investment?
Send me your stories and we will share the information with our read- ers. Let’s find out which manufacturers are being reasonable and which are not. One dealership told us the initial expense to service electric vehicles was $23,000 for special equipment and the total expense was around $50,000. Ouch. Let’s hope that investment can be recouped.
