What shops need to know when preparing for electric vehicles

With all the noise around electric vehicles, only 2.3 percent of vehicles sold in 2020 were true electric vehicles and 12 percent were electrified (had both electric and gas engine). Despite the low numbers now, electric vehicles are on the rise and expected to be seen in shops sooner rather than later.

Ben Johnson, director of product management at Mitchell 1, offered some advice for shops on how to prepare for electrification during a session held on Nov. 2 at AAPEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“There are over 70 EV models planned between now and 2027,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if they make up 5 percent or 50 percent of the market, we are in business to maintain them properly. The focus is not when but what to do about it.”

As electric vehicles are becoming more complex, there’s no reason to be afraid. Here are a few tips noted by Johnson:

1. Have common sense. SAE created a standard around the orange sheathing as a safety measure. It’s important not to mess with it as there could be 800V looking for a path to take.
2. Know your service information. The OEs have done a good job in telling us about the steps on how to disable the high voltage system. Sometimes it’s not just pulling a connector but instead waiting a period of time – usually around 10 minutes – for the supercapacitor to settle down to discharge.
3. Experience is the best tool. You may lose money the first time you come across an issue that you haven’t seen before, but you’ll make up for it the next time and time after that. With new technologies coming out, its going to be the first time for many of us.
4. Make sure the vehicle is in a mode that it can be serviced. Unlike ICE vehicles, you may not hear the engine running. You need to make sure the key is off, and the vehicle is inactive to be serviced safely.
5. Need to have electrical knowledge. If you’re not very familiar with Ohm’s law, you should get a little training. You need to understand the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance. You also need to understand how current flows, how to isolate circuits, and how to measure things. Be familiar with your basic tools like your multimeter, digital oscilloscope, and scan tool. You’ll also need to get to know wiring diagrams as these also getting more complex as there is more electric content on the vehicle.

“EVs are not going to put us out of business,” Johnson said wrapping up his presentation. “They are going to make new business for us. We’ve dealt with change before, and we’ll do it again.”