EVs Toss a Wrench in Fixed Ops

The mainstreaming of electric vehicles raises many issues for dealership Fixed Operations and body shops, according to data from CCC Intelligent Solutions, which processes most auto insurance claims in the U.S. market.

“No.1 is techs. There are simply not enough technicians in the auto repair industry,” says Marc Fredman, senior vice president and chief strategy officer for Chicago-based CCC.

The impact of the chronic shortage of trained service technicians isn’t confined to electric vehicles, Fredman tells Wards. There aren’t enough technicians to work on vehicles with internal-combustion engines (ICE), either.

But if technicians trained to fix ICE vehicles are scarce, technicians trained to repair EVs are even more scarce because EVs are still relatively new and small in volume for most dealerships, Fredman says.

For the whole industry, the technician shortage limits dealership service capacity, increases wait times and decreases customer satisfaction.

Likewise, another trend in Fixed Ops is the high cost of replacing sensors and electronics related to advanced driver assistance systems such as automatic emergency braking. That affects both EVs and ICE vehicles. But it’s fair to say EVs have more than their share of such high-tech features, he says.

According to CCC data, insurance claims estimates related to EVs nearly doubled in 2022 vs. 2021 but still accounted for only about 1.2% of all assessments.

Around 39% of all 2022 EV insurance estimates originated in California, trailed by Florida, New Jersey, New York, Texas and the state of Washington, CCC says. That distribution reflects both population and EV sales volumes.

There are many other factors dealerships and body shops handling EVs must consider, CCC says.

With their weighty batteries, EVs are physically heavier than similarly sized ICE vehicles. The extra weight may translate into more damage when there’s a collision, Fredman says.

EV drivers also tend to be accident-prone because they’re becoming accustomed to much quicker acceleration, he says. Electric motors generate much more torque than internal-combustion engines, so EVs accelerate much faster from a standing start.

“Empirically, if you get in an accident with a modern EV, it’s likely more parts would be involved in that repair than less,” Fredman says. “It is a physically complicated thing.”

EVs also wear tires out faster, and special shop equipment is needed to maintain, repair and store EVs and their batteries, Fredman says. “No.2 is equipment” after the technician-shortage issue in the list of dealership concerns, he says.

Also, because of the added weight, a standard car carrier hauling EVs can transport around 30% fewer vehicles per load compared with ICE vehicles, according to Joe Kichler, vice president, logistics, for auction firm Manheim, a Cox Automotive company.

That makes EVs more expensive to transport, Kichler says in a presentation for Cox Automotive.

He says that the average load per car carrier without EVs is nine vehicles. The mix of vehicles a car carrier can transport becomes complicated due to individual vehicles’ weight. Still, there is a maximum weight limit for the carriers, so the amount of fuel burnt remains the same whether it transports six heavy vehicles, such as EVs, or nine vehicles powered by internal combustion engines.

Of course, EVs are not all bad news for dealerships and body shops. According to CCC, the average total cost of repair for EVs for consumers in 2022 was $6,587. That’s 56% higher than non-EVs.

On average, EVs are much newer and more expensive than the average vehicle on the road, which may distort the comparison between EVs and older ICE vehicles, CCC says.

A comparison of similarly aged EVs and non-EVs shows the average total repair cost is still higher for EVs, by more than $1,000, CCC says. EVs represent more costs for Fixed Ops and body shops – in terms of specialized equipment, including higher-capacity lifts and battery storage, training for technicians, and infrastructure such as charging stations - the repair industry can accommodate repair and maintenance as long as they gain additional revenue.

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