Electric Vehicles and the Automotive Technician

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Electric Vehicles and the Automotive Technician

Michael Smyth • November 17, 2021

New vehicles mean new technologies,

new tools to buy, and new skills to learn.

Our industry is an ever-changing animal. New vehicles mean new technologies, new tools to buy, and new skills to learn.

Since the year 2000, when the first Toyota Prius hit the US market, we have all been facing the above-listed challenges for EVs and hybrids. I am willing to assume that a betting man in 2000, with the foresight to see the continuing ramp-up of electric vehicle sales, would have placed money on the automotive diagnostic and repair community to have its collective act together in a few short years, growing our skills and training as these new vehicles grew in popularity and complexity.

Nope. Not even close, and I can speak on this from personal experience.

My wife is on her second Prius, a 2012 plug-in model, that is approaching 190,000 miles. It has been a great car and it has been surprisingly trouble-free. We just had the front struts and tie rods replaced, but other than that, we've only had to do basic maintenance such as brakes (twice) and tires (on our fifth set).

It is very favorable that it has been trouble-free, as our local dealerships look like a deer in the headlights when we bring it in. They're great folks and do their best, but they seem to have a revolving door of "the guy" who works on hybrids. Sometimes he looks like he has his act together; other times, not. There just doesn't seem to be a decent pool of EV qualified techs in our area.

We have found an independent shop that lacks a trained EV tech, but they're willing to learn. They've told us that if a problem comes up, they'll do their best to figure it out as long as we're patient. These two experiences are a failure of the automotive repair system and not of these specific shops

We wrote in an earlier article about the need for foundational training, especially in vehicle electric diagnostic and repair skills. So if the automotive diagnostic and repair community lacks a rudimentary understanding of electrical systems and theory, how can we move into quality skills in the electric vehicle market?

An excellent example of a shop that "gets it" is a facility in San Francisco, Luscious Garage. (lusciousgarage.com)

Carolyn Coquilette, the founder of Luscious Garage, saw a need for hybrid vehicle support in San Francisco with the explosion of hybrids in the taxi market and decided to go all-in when opening her doors in 2007. I got introduced to Carolyn and her shop by another hybrid guru, Jack Rosebro, previously the CEO of Perfect Sky and now with Toyota. I was genuinely amazed at the successes she and her staff have accomplished and the level of client loyalty they enjoy. Luscious Garage is a multi-million dollar repair business whose workload at one point was almost 90% electric vehicles. It grew to this point through one mission: building a relationship with her client based on trust.

Luscious Garage techs are trained to be knowledgeable on electric vehicles. They relate to their clients both on their extensive and informative website and the face-to-face interactions. They have invested in training their technicians and the service writers, parts department personnel, and other support staff. Luscious Garage had that vision back in 2007 and has stayed true to it and is reaping the benefits that can only come from meeting the needs and expectations of their customers through training their staff and supporting their personal growth.

Although this example is admirable, it is well within every shop and technician's capabilities to follow suit. Diagnosing and maintaining electric vehicles is no more complicated than our work on conventionally powered vehicles; it is only different. It requires an understanding of high voltage electricity, the components that run the EV drivetrain, and most importantly, the safety equipment and PPE needed to perform the work. Again, nothing complicated. There just has to be an understanding of the need in the marketplace and the desire to acquire the capability to meet this need.

If I had a shop, large or small, I would hope to invest in my staff's training for EVs. Statistics show that new EV sales are growing exponentially every year. Although many are being taken back to the dealership for maintenance past the warranty period, my personal experience shows that this option isn't always successful. Once the warranty period of an electric vehicle expires, an opportunity for an independent shop to promote themselves as an EV capable one could and would reap benefits. This isn't to say that all OE shops struggle as my local dealership does. Still, even if the OE that sold a vehicle has their collective act together, the opportunity for an independent shop remains, as labor rates outside the OEM circle tend to favor the consumer.

To summarize the point of this article, EVs are not a flash in the pan. They are here to stay and will continue to grow in the size of their market share. The majority of those sales currently are hybrid vehicles with a conventionally powered gasoline drivetrain combined with a high voltage electrical one. Although a smaller part of EV sales now, plug-in electric cars that rely solely on electricity to operate will take a more significant portion of the EV sales as battery range grows and vehicle charging infrastructure expands. All this points to one factor: Gasoline and diesel vehicle market share is projected to stay flat, with the continued growth of EV sales. There will continue to be a need for traditional diagnostic and repair skills for many years, especially when considering the vintage and enthusiast market. However, with the growth of EVs, an intelligent tech should look to his future to parallel and support the industry they have chosen to follow and acquire the skills to do so.

- Micheal Smyth

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