The eventual conversion from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids is a virtual certainty. According to Carsurance, the USA will have 18 million EVs on the road by 2030. In addition to working on truck engine repair, many service facilities will focus on EV engine repairs, which require different tools and technology. So will auto body shops, which will have to undertake the following changes to serve their customers.
Although an auto body shop does not do engine repairs or work on other mechanical systems, it will have to learn how EVs and hybrids differ in order to work on them. Learning those differences will require new training. Auto body shops need to ensure their technicians are properly trained and have access to new tools that might be required to work on EVs and hybrids despite not working on their motors.
When doing current truck engine repair, a shop needs to simply disconnect the ground wire to the battery in order to protect the vehicle's electrical systems. The same isn't true for EVs -- even those that are in for auto body work. Instead of disconnecting a cable, auto body technicians will have to remove the up to 2,000-pound EV batteries. Those batteries will need to be stored in a secure battery storage area.
When an EV is missing its battery, it cannot move readily from one location to another. For that to happen, auto body shops will need to ensure their floors are level by eliminating sloping surfaces that traditionally are used to channel water and other liquids into drains. A level floor and wheel dollies will help to move EVs to where they need to be without battling gravity due to sloping concrete floors and drains.
Unlike doing
truck engine repair that simply requires fuel to get the vehicle running again, an auto body shop that works on EVs will have to charge the batteries to produce power. Installing one or more charging stations will help to do that while also giving workers a way to charge their own EVs. The cost to upgrade an auto body shop with charging stations would be relatively modest.
You can learn more about auto body services for EVs and hybrids by calling or visiting The Auto Clinic Repair and Towing Inc.
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