Independent EV Mechanics…..

[MPawelek]

It is obvious that with new EV’s coming on line each year major motor companies will have to train mechanics how to work on the particular items in EV’s.
(1) Do you believe there will come a time where small independent EV businesses will pop up especially for work on a EV out of warranty or are these cars too technical to have independents?
(2) Will there come a time where diagnosis will occur over the air before the EV is even taken/towed to the repair business/dealership?

 

[hydbob]

It is obvious that with new EV’s coming on line each year major motor companies will have to train mechanics how to work on the particular items in EV’s.
(1) Do you believe there will come a time where small independent EV businesses will pop up especially for work on a EV out of warranty or are these cars too technical to have independents?
(2) Will there come a time where diagnosis will occur over the air before the EV is even taken/towed to the repair business/dealership?

1) Not really because as we know already from Lucid, they are training current mechanics/body shops already to fix and repair their cars
2) This is already happening, Lucid for sure has pulled data OTA to see if a bug was triggering on a regular basis for something I reported to them

 

[Not Sam]

I mostly agree with hydbob. I think EVs are going to be mainstream enough soon that most mechanics will be able to service them once the current crop goes out of warranty.

But there is such a specialist for the Tesla Roadster: https://grubermotors.com/services/ In that case they made so few cars that Gruber could make a specialty business out of sourcing hard-to-find parts and knowing how to service the cars.

 

[ac.bill]

Here's one popular independent EV shop. There are more. https://electrifiedgarage.com/

Weber State University (Utah) offers automotive technician training and certification classes. This includes training for EVs. Their YouTube channel is popular, especially for those curious about what's inside an EV drive system and wondering how to safely work around high voltage. https://www.youtube.com/c/WeberAuto/featured

 

[ac.bill]

(2) Will there come a time where diagnosis will occur over the air before the EV is even taken/towed to the repair business/dealership?

After going through an automated car wash and getting the under-body sprayed a warning light popped up on the dash of my 2018 Chevy Volt. I pushed the OnStar button and a cheerful customer service rep told me it looked like a sensor connection had gotten wet. I was told the car was safe to drive and the light should go away in a day or two (it did), but if not to have a dealer check the connection.
Ford is now offering remote vehicle diagnostics and tracking for fleet managers.
Tesla monitors owners' driving habits to see if they are worthy of getting the FSD they already bought.
I am sure others are doing similar things with today's connected vehicles, but these are the ones I know offhand.

 

[Spin Doctor]

I hope Lucid make it easier for small independents than Tesla have. 057tech (https://057tech.com/home) seem to be the best out there, but they succeed despite Tesla, not because of them.

 

[Mountain Man]

It is obvious that with new EV’s coming on line each year major motor companies will have to train mechanics how to work on the particular items in EV’s.
(1) Do you believe there will come a time where small independent EV businesses will pop up especially for work on a EV out of warranty or are these cars too technical to have independents?
(2) Will there come a time where diagnosis will occur over the air before the EV is even taken/towed to the repair business/dealership?

I believe 1) yes, and 2) yes. Trained technicians working for Tesla, Lucid, Rivian, etc. will stop working for them and open their own shops. That's what always happens with BMW, Mercedes, etc. technicians. As long as they have access to the software and other complicated diagnostics.