Electric vehicles knock on effects

[James]

A study in Norway has shown that electric vehicles require about a 7th of the maintenance that conventional fuel ones.

that means 85% of vehicle maintenance won’t need doing when we have fully converted to electricity (if it happens)

this could kill off most of the independent garages and a huge deficit in the parts supply industry.

this workforce that no longer has any work, what do they do?

discuss!

 

[telectrix]

most will be dead before it becomes a problem.

 

[pirate]

Interesting point for discussion. Historically, we have seen huge changes in the jobs people do as older industries decline. We saw a huge drop in heavy industry, for example ship-building, but then we also saw many new jobs in technology. So many people are now working in IT and related stuff, these being jobs that simply hadn't existed previously. However, the transition is hard to predict for the future of electric vehicles and the loss of traditional garage jobs and the parts supply chain. We didn't see the internet coming, all those years ago, but it arrived and millions of jobs followed. What new source of jobs will come along next?
I suppose that if electric vehicles do become the norm, and they have much less of a requirement for maintenance, then those traditional garages will suffer, but that won't happen overnight, so the writing may be on the wall but there will be time in the transition for people to retrain or indeed decide not to enter the dying sector at all.
Personally, I cannot see a rapid change to EVs, given that a huge number of homes are not suited to the current charger installations. My view is that vast areas of Scotland are simply not suited to EVs, due partly to the large number of tenement flats in the cities and the low provision of charging points in rural areas. I presume similar problems are present in the rest of the UK. Accordingly, the transition to all EVs is likely to take many years, so traditional garages will still be in demand, especially as folks will be trying to hang on to their traditional cars for as long as possible. It's interesting to note that the price of second-hand vehicles has increased significantly during the Covid pandemic due in part to the lack of supply of new vehicles caused by the shortage of computer chips.
Yes, at some point in the future, traditional garage services will be in decline, but I feel this is quite some way off, and it will be a gradual process.Anything bigger than a "granny charger" would be impractical for me, and, for example, I would not be able to visit my family in the north of Scotland because the distance is too great for an EV and there are no charging facilities en-route nor at my destination. On the other hand, I could make that trip twice there and back on one tank of diesel, with no fear of running out of "fuel". I'm not against EVs per se, but it's just not an option for me, currently. I do envy those for whom EVs are perfectly suitable, but there are so many for whom it is not practicable...yet.

 

[SJD]

Is it really 85% maintenance not needed, I'm not convinced. There will still be things like tyres, brakes, bearings, faulty electrics etc to maintain. There will still be all the bodywork repairs after prangs.

 

[littlespark]

There has always been a “throw your hands in the air” attitude when new technology comes along, and an older technology is phased out. Jobs disappear and people may have to retrain. That’s life I’m afraid.

My father in law had a Peugeot dealership, and when the cars became more computerised, he, and most of his workforce didn’t have a clue.
Except the routine stuff, tyres, brakes and battery etc…. But they would try to diagnose and repair a fault…. Changing components, one after another… not actually fixing anything.

The only thing they didn’t try was plugging in the Official Peugeot Diagnostic Computer.

 

[Zerax]

Is it really 85% maintenance not needed, I'm not convinced. There will still be things like tyres, brakes, bearings, faulty electrics etc to maintain. There will still be all the bodywork repairs after prangs.

Tyres are more Kwikfit really... Wheel Bearings rarely need changing these days... Nearly all EVs are made abroad, so electrics aren't an issue... the only thing you really need maintenance of with EVs is the brakes... as they are not used much and often seize up. No EGRs, No exhausts, No water pumps, No timing belts, No spark plugs, No oil changes, No oil filters, No fuel filters, No fuel pumps, No gearboxes, No clutches... lots of things you just don't have with an EV. So I can see where the 85% might come from...

 

[James]

when you go around old factories, you see lots of old motors that have been running machines for 40 years or more, you dont see many 40 year old engines anywhere, they have worn out!

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

it is the same principle in our trade, over the next few years there is going to be even more 'smart' home stuff and automation. you need to get up to date on all this stuff as it will be a big part of the job, renewables and ev charging are only going to grow so you need to upskill.
same for mechanics, they need to upskill or get left behind.
The local audi dealership is becoming the regional EV service centre and all their mechanics have been on courses over in Germany to learn how to fix the new evs, some of them have done some in depth electrical courses at Audi HQ to strip down and repair modules in the batteries.
The older guys set in their ways apparently found it harder than the younger ones who are more tech minded. once they got to doing the taks rather than learning about them they quickly got the hang of it and now are all up to speed.
There is no reason why your local garage if they want to invest in themselves and their business with the kit that they cant work on EVs. sure some will go by the wayside but as mentioned that is the same with every major shift in tech, be it horse to engine and now engine to battery.
As one door closes another opens.. its up to you to go through or not

 

[telectrix]

As one door closes another opens.. its up to you to go through or not

only door I'm likely to be going through is that one in the crem. just before I get my last use of gas. ??

 

[Dave OCD]

That's cheered me up Tel, not ! ?

 

[littlespark]

That's a point.... how are crematoriums and medical incinerators going to manage without fossil fuels?
Never get hot enough with a windmill.


The biggest knock on effect with charging EV in houses is the increased chance of overloading the main fuse, and possibly the main supply cable.
They already have a panic if there's a looped supply to next door... add in charging overnight when there's half a dozen old storage heaters to supply as well.

 

[pc1966]

the only thing you really need maintenance of with EVs is the brakes... as they are not used much and often seize up. No EGRs, No exhausts, No water pumps, No timing belts, No spark plugs, No oil changes, No oil filters, No fuel filters, No fuel pumps, No gearboxes, No clutches... lots of things you just don't have with an EV. So I can see where the 85% might come from...

They have bodywork, suspension, steering, brakes (as you say) and they do have gearboxes to a degree.

While the "obvious" design would be one motor per wheel to avoid the oily differentials, slip-limiting fudges using ABS for snow/ice, and the related CV joints, etc, the reality is they still do it the same way to keep the unsprung mass down. The ratio of unsprung/sprung mass has a BIG impact on handling and ride comfort, ideally you want low mass wheel assemblies that can go over bumps with little effort and be pushed back in contact with the road with little disturbance to the main body. That was a big reason for alloy wheels originally, not the flash looks, but reducing unsprung mass for racing (not just total mass, but the ratio).

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

That's a point.... how are crematoriums and medical incinerators going to manage without fossil fuels?
Never get hot enough with a windmill.


The biggest knock on effect with charging EV in houses is the increased chance of overloading the main fuse, and possibly the main supply cable.
They already have a panic if there's a looped supply to next door... add in charging overnight when there's half a dozen old storage heaters to supply as well.

with decent load management there is minimal risk of overloading the main fuse, looped supplies potentially but that is why the dnos remove the loop when an ev charger is fitted.

i read somewhere a crematorium is now generating hot water from all that heat that is used to heat nearby buildings! like a mini power station! they run pipes under the road to block of flats nearby.. quite good idea really. another uses the heat to generate electric via steam and its fed into the grid...

 

[telectrix]

with decent load management there is minimal risk of overloading the main fuse, looped supplies potentially but that is why the dnos remove the loop when an ev charger is fitted.

i read somewhere a crematorium is now generating hot water from all that heat that is used to heat nearby buildings! like a mini power station! they run pipes under the road to block of flats nearby.. quite good idea really. another uses the heat to generate electric via steam and its fed into the grid...

but you can't burn bodies with hot water. they just go pink.

 

[Deleted account]

That's a point.... how are crematoriums and medical incinerators going to manage without fossil fuels?
Never get hot enough with a windmill.

stick the bodies in a big vat and extract the gasses for fuel then compost the flesh for farming.

the bones. Grind to dust to make bread. Fee Fi Fo Fum.

 

[snowhead]

Grind the bodies up in blender and feed them to the Pigs,,
Oh Hang,, on animals are going to be banned so it will have to be feed the blend to the Lettuces and Radishes.

P.S There's no date set yet to ban the use of gas for Commercial or Industrial procecsses.