When you were a kid and you had a small radio controlled car that you’ve been zooming around the kitchen floor or building jumps in the backyard, have you thrown it away when the battery dies? For many owners of early electric cars since a decade or more ago, that seemed to be the answer electricity problem. If your 2012 Tesla Model S damn bed, should you throw it to the cleaners, or Invest some time and money and bring it back on the road? Unfortunately, the demand for mechanics who can disassemble battery packs and repair dead batteries has outstripped supply.
Recent report sample NPR link KUOW Puget Sound found a Tesla driver who was deciding what to do with a bricked Model S. Christine Barnes was told by Tesla that the car needed a completely new package and that it would cost around $20,000, more than the car was worth.
“We were thinking about spending the money just because it was a perfectly good car and not because this was happening,” Barnes said. “There’s nothing wrong with it, and I love that car. But then we decided that wasn’t smart at all.”
Early adopters of electric vehicles with cars that are no longer under warranty of any kind are experiencing issues with the longevity of these complex electrical systems. The dealership-less auto repair industry has not kept up with the growth of electric vehicles, and as a result, there are few places that can influence the repairs needed to keep these cars on the road. Luckily, Barnes found a shop that could repair the batteries in her Tesla, Medlock and Sons, but the shop was so busy that it would take years.
“We have over 350 Model S battery repair appointments and we don’t have time to move any faster,” Medlock said.
“Tesla told them they needed the battery because Tesla just replaced the whole thing. They don’t replace parts like we do,” he continued. “Any Model S that was turbocharged a lot, early in ’12, ’13, ’14, those cars, their batteries were failing,”
This is an important segment from the KUOW report:
If more technicians were trained to work on batteries, the life of older electric vehicles could be extended, said Gary Fantozzi, automotive program director at Shoreline Community College. His department trains future mechanics for automakers like General Motors and Tesla.
“We can start to change small parts of deteriorating batteries and help them last longer,” he said.
But Fantozzi said automakers aren’t particularly motivated to invest in that kind of workforce training, and many of them don’t allow mechanics to work with batteries.
“There are only a few manufacturers that actually allow you to use the battery and do some repair work,” he said.
Fantozzi believes there isn’t much financial incentive for automakers to develop batteries if customers – faced with high battery replacement costs – are willing to buy new cars instead.
For a while, I had an old Nissan Leaf that I really enjoyed driving. It’s incredibly cheap, although its battery pack has deteriorated to the point that it can actually only go 40 miles on a single charge. I’ve been wanting to find a new battery pack to increase the range, but sourcing a well-known battery pack is difficult and expensive, and finding a store to do the job is even more difficult. That car is still on the road and I hope it stays that way for many years to come, but I’m worried about who will do the work when it finally needs to be done.
If you’re a young mechanic new to the industry, learn how to repair electric and hybrid vehicles safely and reliably. I am positive that you have plenty of work to keep you busy for the rest of your life.
