IMR Inc. interviewed 500 independent repair shops between June 1 and June 30 in order to update its findings from 2021 on how battery electric and hybrid vehicle service is impacting independent repair shops in the U.S.
The findings include information on:
- Investment in tools/equipment and training for BEVs and HEVs
- Marketing practices for these service capabilities
- Shops' views on when they expect BEVs and HEVs to impact their business
In 2021, when shops were asked if they expected BEVs/HEVs to impact their business within the next ten years, 55.1 percent responded "yes." In comparison, the new findings state that 41.9 percent of shops expect BEVs/HEVs to impact them within the next two years.
Additionally, the new findings indicate that a portion of business for 55 percent of independent repair shops comes from servicing battery electric vehicles. Since 2021, repair shops are seeing a 0.8 percent increase in BEV and a 0.3 percent decrease in HEV service numbers. This has resulted in an average of 3.9 percent of total business coming from BEVs and HEVs, which makes up about 5.9 percent of shop business overall.
Shops with eight or more are still receiving more BEV/HEV business (5.4 percent BEH, 7.7 percent HEV) than shops with one to three bays (3 percent BEV, 4.3 percent BEV). Also, in terms of marketing their service capabilities for BEVs/HEVs, only 15.2 percent of small shops engage in this while 43.2 percent of larger shops do.
As BEVs/HEVs become more popular among consumers, 42.4 percent of repair shops have invested in tools/equipment to service BEVs/HEVs and 41.2 percent have invested in training for their technicians compared to last year when only 27.5 percent invested in tools/equipment and 30.5 percent invested in training.
To view the full updated report from IMR, click here.
