Will electric vehicles doom your neighborhood auto mechanic?

I recall similar anxieties when TV's dropped vacuum tubes and went semiconductor, disc brakes replacing drums, factories adopted automation and robotics, asian imports wiped-out domestic manufacturers, smartphones and tablets took market share from desktops.

I can certainly see this as a big, but gradual, impact on the service/repair business.

But, the dealerships will love it.

The way the beancounters at the bike shops explained it to me, the dealership see most of its revenues and profits from vehicle sales, seconded by parts sales. They claimed that the service department barely broke even, what with its large expenditures on mechanics, real estate (shop and parking lot), insurance (dangerous stuff going on there), ...etc.

The service department was considered as a "necessary evil"...
 
TwoManyXS1Bs said:
I can certainly see this as a big, but gradual, impact on the service/repair business.
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"Gradual", I think, is in the eye of the beholder. I see this as coming sooner rather than later. Kinda bums me out...
TwoManyXS1Bs said:
The service department was considered as a "necessary evil"...
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I worked at a forklift shop (TCM) where the owner promised us a bonus at the end of the year based on profit (logical). After he factored in all the warranty work (which I'm sure he was compensated for), we lost money... no bonus.
 
There will always be a few of us around but for the most part, I think the breed is dead already, lol. Of course, there will still be the new occasional young guy that comes along who just "gets it", but they are far and few between. Some people just have a way with tools. They can make them work and use them better than most other people. I see that helping my buddies on their bikes. They can't flip a combination wrench in their hand end for end like I can. They can't wield a hammer for shit. I know, a hammer, how hard could that be? Believe me, it takes some real skill to use a hammer correctly, starting with what hammer to choose in the 1st place. I never thought much about my mechanical skills or considered them anything special. But now that I'm older, I realize that I do have skills not common to the masses. That's why the world will always need tradesmen. Most people can't do this stuff, or any other mechanically related stuff. They can't fix their washer or dryer, their furnace, their car, etc. They need us.
 
Okay, how about new cottage businesses. We could start a franchise, shops that install personalized security, and service bays out back that steam clean out the incinerated remains of car thieves ...?
 
TwoManyXS1Bs said:
....and service bays out back that steam clean out the incinerated remains of car thieves ...?
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Too funny!
0-60 in 3.1 seconds will become old hat... speed shops will open up to promise 2.8 seconds..... Shops will open to give your car that RR Merlin growl.... Like you said, "others will see opportunities.":)
 
There will always be enthusiast like us who love "the old ways". Keepers of the old technologies. Restoration shops. Garage shops.
 
azman857 said:
There will always be enthusiast like us who love "the old ways". Keepers of the old technologies. Restoration shops. Garage shops.
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Someday.........the parts won't be available, our current vehicles will be banned from the road. There probably won't even be a road. We'll all be riding on a rail, or maybe a virtual rail. You won't own your own vehicle. Travel permits will be issued based on necessity.

Scott
 
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From the beginning of mankind man could travel as fast as he could run. Then, a few thousand years ago, someone threw their leg over a horse. Now we could travel as fast as the horse could run. Then, just a couple hundred years ago someone saw the possibilities of steam power. Then comes internal combustion to get us where we are today. Notice how rapidly the intervals between innovations are growing shorter. Teleportation is just around the next corner.

When my horse goes lame or my bike quits on me that's inconvenient. When my teleporter breaks down mid trip where am I? That will need to be repaired right away!


roy
 
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For sure we at the dawn of an electric vehicle future. Canada new vehicle registrations electrics are approaching 2%, that's big considering extreme cold ev range. Saw recent video of an electic bike beating a gasser in 3 laps of stadium cross. Have friend that is near to plunking down for a chevy Bolt in Wisconsin, a 90 mile a day commute.
 
I like the idea around the electric cars and bikes and I think it will open many doors for future work but the one thing that scares the hell out of me is the batteries and a high inpact crash. I have had a drill battery explode in my garage because it was left on a charger and just one little battery did a lot of damage that surprised me. I also rebuilt a 2004 Harley for a buddy that left his bike on a battery tender and battery went up in flames and so did the bike. More damage to harness seat paint than you would think. So I know that everytime I ride a gas engine I am sitting on a bomb but I do it. So I have read some testing accidents on battery cars and the inpact was worst than a gas car impack. Has anyone ever seen the video of the water motor it pumps the pistons up and down the same as gas but horse power low. You always have to move toward the future but this OLD ASS will stay in the rock ages HAHA
 
Autonomous vehicles are another huge disrupter, possibly coming faster than EV's, especially in congested urban areas. I heard somewhere recently that GM stated that 16,000 autonomous vehicles can provide for the mobility needs of 100,000 people. Compare that to a two-vehicle owning/leasing family like mine in an urban/suburban area that uses each one about 400 hours (apx. 10,000 miles averaging apx. 25 mph) out of 8760 hours a year - a 4.6% duty cycle; i.e., most of what we pay is just for availability, not the actual use of these vehicles. That's a paradigm that just begs for an alternative.
 
I'm going to start rounding up parts to build a gasohol still to keep the XS's on the road!
Ha! My demise will occur first.
Exxon reports a GMO algae with twice the oil content. They tend to use CO2 to live n breed.
 
DADDYGCYCLES said:
I also rebuilt a 2004 Harley for a buddy that left his bike on a battery tender and battery went up in flames and so did the bike.
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This was interesting to read. I thought it was safe to overwinter a battery on a tender. Leave the battery on a tender indoors or out? What are your guys experience with this?
 
TwoManyXS1Bs said:
Well, good, Jim.

Now, the term "hot rod" would no longer be relevant to electric cars.

How 'bout a new one?
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How about “hot wire”?

Hmmmm....that has unfortunate connotions I guess.

As for the timeframe of EV adoption, yeah, it will happen, but it’ll take much longer than many pseudo-engineers and media people are saying. EV sales are still lagging predictions quite markedly and IC engines are getting better each year.

Pete
 
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Like 2 many sez we are in a paradigm shift, the one owner, driver per vehicle era is coming to an end. Especially in urban areas. A drivers license is no longer the rite of passage it represented when we were crazy kids. In 20 years time one will be considered quaint in the cities. How many of us know how to harness a horse to a wagon and drive it somewhere? We are only a few generations removed from that "essential" skill. Any house wife could do it at need...
 

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