Time to get ready for some new specifications

First it was oil specs; now it is refrigerant.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States announced a new air conditioning refrigerant, HFO-1234yf, can now be used in new cars and light trucks. This new refrigerant is to help automakers in the United States meet federal targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA is following the lead of the European Union which set out mandates that will make all new vehicles sold in Europe by 2017 use the new refrigerant.
General Motors has plans to introduce the new refrigerant in 2013 models of Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac models. It will not be long before other car makers announce their plans to use the new refrigerant.
At last year’s AAPEX/SEMA show, I came across plenty of talk about the new refrigerant specification; and manufacturers of A/C maintenance equipment were beginning to get ready to release products that are compatible with the new specification. In Canada, there has not been a lot of talk around this, for several reasons. It is very new and shops still have some time to get up to speed on the new refrigerant. And it will take a while before vehicles with the new refrigerant will start to make an appearance.
I’m always puzzled as to why A/C maintenance is not a greater part of most shop’s business. One reason may be our own climate. There is a small window of time where most use their car’s A/C system aggressively. Summer last only so long before fall and winter set in; and spring can be a pretty miserable time of year, rain and cold that seem to drag on for far too long. Another is most A/C systems in today’s new vehicles are very robust. It is rare for these systems to fail catastrophically. So for many people, until the A/C system completely fails (usually from age), it is something they do not think about and never bother asking a technician to look at. Most shops have even dropped the traditional spring maintenance push where the A/C systems was inspected and adjustments were made.
The new refrigerant specifications could help change that. With the investment in new equipment an investment in reaching out to long-term maintenance customers should also be made. Let them know you are ready to service vehicles with that new specification, along with older vehicles using the older refrigerant specification. You can even sell this maintenance work as a ‘green’ initiative as the new refrigerant is meant to reduce greenhouse emissions. A well-maintained vehicle also helps and A/C maintenance is just one part of a consistent maintenance sales strategy that needs to be better practiced by many shops.