February 2020

reduce on full electric vehicles. Yes, these vehicles will still require a level of servicing. Yes, they will still have system failures. Yes, they will still require repairs. Despite this, the level of technician integration with battery electric ehicles, in my opinion, will be substantially reduced compared to hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Instead of repairing systems, we will be replacing components to repair the systems. This still requires a well trained and experienced technician to diagnose the system or component failure but compared to engine management and internal combustion engine technology, I believe that the technician skill level will begin to reduce. Alternative Is there another alternative to battery electric vehicles that would have less of an effect on the automotive repair sector? I believe so; Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. There is a lot of debate about the amount of CO2 that U ndoubtedly electrified vehicles are here to stay, with almost all manufacturers pledging to offer electrified powertrains as the majority percentage of vehicles sold by 2025. The question is, which technology will win the race and which is better for the automotive repair sector? As hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles become and more and more popular choice for manufacturers, the automotive aftermarket industry will be increasingly affected by this technology. The hazardous voltage technology on these vehicles will, of course, require staff to be suitably trained to recognise potential hazard areas and have specific training to work on or near these systems. However, these vehicles still have the electronically managed internal combustion engines that we have all grown to love (and hate). While there may be an initial lull in repair work for businesses that are not fully prepared for hybrid and plug-in hybrid technology, this can be overcome through the increasing number of hazardous voltage training offerings that are appearing regularly. Risk For me, the risk to the automotive repair sector comes when manufacturers begin to migrate away from hybrid and plug-in hybrid 22 AFTERMARKET FEBRUARY 2020 TRAINING www.aftermarketonline.net VEHICLE ELECTRIFICATION AND THE AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR SECTOR McLaren Automotive’s Matt Heale looks at the impact of vehicle electrification on the aftermarket, and asks if there is an alternative vehicles into full battery electric vehicles. No longer will the repair sector be exposed to complex and time-consuming engine management faults and mechanical repairs. Great you say? In reality, the repair sector relies on mechanical and electrical faults and failures to drive revenue. In addition to the loss of revenue from diagnosis and repair of these systems, service times and costs also BY Matt Heale TAP.Cert, HV and Development Specialist at McLaren Automotive