The situation in Britain is alarming
The low demand for mechanic jobs is causing problems for the development of electric mobility, as there are not enough people with the skills to repair these vehicles. As a result, the demand for mechanics is rising and so are the prices for routine checks, repairs and parts, which usually have to be imported, making the waiting time for a vehicle to be repaired considerably longer. Parts and repairs are sometimes even more expensive than the car itself, so owners often wonder whether they should have the car repaired at all, or whether they should replace it altogether. According to Synetiq, a UK-based vehicle disposal and recycling company for sustainable solutions, this has led to a 55 % increase in the number of destroyed EVs over the past year.
By 2035, the shortage of experts will persist
With 1 million electric vehicles on the road, the situation is expected to get worse. While repairers are starting to train staff, the IMI estimates that there will still be a shortage of around 30,000 qualified technicians and mechanics in the UK by 2035. At the same time, a ban on the sale of new internal combustion engine vehicles is due to come into force.
Overpriced insurance policies and sustainability as a mere buzz word
Britain is not the only one struggling with this problem. As repairs are often impossible or unprofitable due to a lack of experts and high prices, insurers often have no choice but to write off even vehicles after minor crashes that end up directly in scrapyards. This move is also disadvantageous for the insurance companies themselves, as it results in a sharp rise in insurance premiums, which are around 27 % higher than for classic cars, and a drop in profits for the insurers at the same time. As Reuters has reported, the trend of EVs being written off after small accidents continues to grow. The fact that third parties do not have access to battery repair data is also a problem. Meanwhile, the number of e-cars sold is steadily increasing. In 2023, around one in four cars sold was electric. In Norway, the proportion was more than 90% and in China almost 40%. "The number of cases will increase, so the handling of batteries is a key point," said Christoph Lauterwasser, executive director of the Allianz Center for Technology research institute. Not to mention that there is no workable recycling formula for batteries, so the vision of sustainability fails abruptly in practice.
Development of the share of new electric cars sold between 2010 and 2023, which includes fully battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.
Sustainability is taking a beating
It is important to realise that the production of an electric car itself produces much more CO2 than the production of ordinary cars. So they have to drive disproportionately more thousands of kilometres to compensate for these emissions. But when vehicles end up in landfill sites, this does not happen. In addition to this, throw in the problem of battery recycling, and we find that, as the system is currently set up in individual countries, sustainability is essentially out of the question.
Retraining may be the way forward
Countries that are managing this crisis and improving mechanics' skills in repairing electric vehicles are Sweden, Norway, where up to 82 % of new vehicles sold in 2023 were electric, and Germany, which plans to ban imports of electric vehicles from China. More fully trained technicians capable of repairing EVs could prevent unnecessary overpricing of repairs, stabilise prices and prevent nearly new vehicles from ending up in landfills.
Car rental companies are reassessing the situation as well
The problems with the electric car fleet were also faced by the US car rental company Hertz Global Holdings Inc., which announced the sale of a third of its electric fleet, with a total of about 20,000 vehicles. The reason? Higher expenses for electric car repairs. Meanwhile, the company originally planned to convert 25 % of its vehicle fleet to electric cars by the end of 2024. But plans are changing. The company plans to use the money it receives from the sale to buy gasoline-powered vehicles. It expects to lose about 245 million USD due to the depreciation of electric vehicles, an average of about 12,250 USD per vehicle, as stated in a filing with the SEC. Meanwhile, about 80 % of sHertz's electric fleet is made up of Tesla vehicles. However, there are also BMW or Chevrolet models for sale. Overall, electric vehicles make up about 11 % of the vehicles offered for lease by Hertz. The German rental company Sixt, which said in December 2023 that it would no longer purchase Tesla models from 2022, is also selling its Teslas as part of a planned rental park renewal.
America is clear on this
US Senator Sherrod Brown is urging President Joe Biden to ban imports of electric cars from China, just like Germany. The number of electric cars in use, therefore, will not have as significant an increase as certain states had planned. Due to the reduced adaptation of these vehicles, the need for EV technicians will probably be reduced as well. However, if the necessary steps are not taken, the problem will continue to grow. One of the solutions is the prestigious subsidised training of mechanics. The government and the private sector should support institutions and training which will increase the number of qualified professionals.
National governments should also intervene
A number of manufacturers are trying to improve their electric batteries and make them easier to repair. For example, Elon Musk and his team are currently working on a manganese battery that has the potential to reduce the cost of battery repair and also their efficiency. However, individual countries should also step in and implement policies and regulations that encourage the maintenance and repair of these vehicles rather than allowing them to be prematurely disposed of. Price incentives for pre-replacement repairs could also help reduce the number of unnecessary scrapped units that might not end up in a scrapyard.
Olívia Lacenová, principal analyst at Wonderinterest Trading Ltd.
