This article topic takes me back in time for sure. The article is about electric vehicles, (EV) for short, also known as battery electric vehicles (BEV). The B in BEV defines an all-electric vehicle versus a hybrid.
Many folks might think that BEVs are a new technology. Not so.
The fact is horses and mules were retired from carriages in the 1820s through the 30s and electric motors were added. BEV was even experimented with on trains in those days. The power and maximum miles just didn’t make it practical yet. This brought the horses and mules out of retirement for a few more decades.
In 1900, 40 percent of automobiles were powered by steam, 38 percent by electricity and only 22 percent by petrol. Unfortunately, the high cost, low top speed and short-range of BEVs led to a worldwide decline in their use as private motor vehicles. So, internal combustion engines would be king for the next 110 years.
With the 2010s, we saw the second wave of electric vehicles. By 2020, over 10 million electric vehicles with a B, BEVs, had been sold globally.
BEV sales in the U.S. accounted for 6.9 percent of all new vehicle sales in 2023. As of July 2024, BEVs made up a whopping 16.8 percent of new car sales in the U.K., while China accounted for 60 percent of global EV sales.
There was a time when I thought there wouldn’t be much to repair on an electric vehicle, and as a result, not much need for us technicians. Was I mistaken! All other systems are still needed, including ABS, ADAS, TPMS, AIRBAG, HVAC, IPCM and probably a hundred other acronyms for the various systems between the bumpers.
For example, shown below is the ABS coverage offered on a Snap-on diagnostic tool with current software for a Tesla. All these systems need testing and diagnosing the same as a vehicle with an internal combustion engine. DTCs, data, functional tests, resets and relearns are no different.
2023 and older Model S and Model X ABS
- ABS module
- brake fluid level switch
- brake pedal switch
- electric brake booster
- electronic parking brake actuator
- iBooster pedal sensor
- wheel speed sensor
The operation of some of these systems might be extremely different than what we are used to, such as HVAC with an electric heater and an electric motor to drive the AC compressor. We will need to learn new operations and procedures for several other systems. For example, the cooling system is now for keeping the batteries and the charger cool. It could be air cooled or use coolant. The batteries also need to be kept warm so the OEMS all have various ways of controlling that, which we will have to learn to diagnose and repair.
A new system was passed into law in Japan, the U.S. and Europe that requires the use of an acoustic vehicle alerting system (AVAS) on all BEVs and Hybrids. Yes, they require “car noises” when a vehicle is operating under 20 km/h (12 MPH) for safety reasons. My point here is BEVs will not mean less, but more systems and components for us to deal with. As BEV technology grows, it will become more sophisticated than ever.
I have also heard vehicles will self-diagnose. At one time, Cadillac Seville and Deville had a self-diagnose feature, but you needed very specific instructions because it was complicated to retrieve the data. Today, OEMs are making it a whole lot easier, including Tesla, which offers models with a self-diagnosing feature on its dash display.
There are now many OEMs with BEV offerings, such as the Audi e-tron, BMW i4, Cadillac Lyriq, Chevrolet Blazer, Ford F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq, Kia EV6, MG5, Mini, Nissan Leaf, Polestar 2, Rivian, Tesla and Volkswagen 1D.3.
We are living in a time where wrenches and hammers do not fix cars, but information and data do. These high voltage vehicles can be dangerous, so make sure you get the training needed to keep safe when making repairs.
Click here for more on this topic, or visit Snap-on’s technical article pages.
