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‘What are you afraid of’ with EVs, leader asks
Image credit: Depositphotos.com
There seems to be a lot of angst or nervousness among many, including the automotive aftermarket, when it comes to electric vehicles and Gino Amador can’t comprehend why.
The president of Snap-on Equipment told MEMA Aftermarket Suppliers Vision Conference in Chicago this year that he doesn’t see EVs as a problem to the industry. He’s all for electrification. He told the audience that as a child growing up in Mexico, he could lick his lips and taste the emissions. “I want these to happen,” he said.
So when he hears the negative response to the technology, he wonders why.
“But what are you afraid of? That the world is going to become Norway or California? Norway is not the Norway you think it is. Norway has the trifecta,” he said during the Supplier Pain Points: A CEO Panel session.
Amador pointed out that the Nordic country is one of the first movers in electrification. They set up a large network of chargers, for example. “Try buying 20,000 charge stations today. Not going to happen. The lead time is simply not there,” he observed.
Norway is one of the richest countries in the world, Amador noted, and gets 99 per cent of its energy from hydro. “So they can actually raise their hand and say, ‘We make electricity cleanly.’ No one else can do that.”
That said, Amador does see a little bit of a problem in California. If the goal is to have a certain number of electric vehicles, then there needs to be a certain number of charging stations. Globally, there are about six million EVs with about 1 million charging stations. That’s about California’s goal for 2030. But zoning and permits take time, he observed.
“Those goalposts are going to get moved,” Amador predicted.
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I drive an EV and one of my sons drives a PHEV. We have done HV certification, upgraded our diagnostic scanner and are for the most part ready to go. No fears at Seamless Auto Care.
I have no problem adapting my shop to work on full EV vehicles in the future. I look forward to maintaining and repairing all the chassis components and accessories of these vehilces ($$$). What I am not going to do is invest alot of time and money to diagnose and repair high voltage systems out of the gate, because the dealerships will have to go through the learning curve first. Once these high voltage problems start entering the aftermarket, chances are it will be vehicle replacment. ICE vehicles are already being prematurely replaced with catastrophic running gear problems. ICE vehilces have improved emissions dramatically since you were a child Mr Amador and could continue to dramatically improve by reducing engine and vehicle sizes.
The government knows the technician shortage issue is going to be a huge hurtle to make this EV legislation even slightly possible. The government now is trying to get the next generation interested into hightech automotive jobs. Thats fine, but if an industry is very technical and complicated you have to pay properly to attract people to come aboard.
And this is where the problem starts; we start paying our techs what they are worth and the average consumer can not afford to keep their vehilces on the road. If the average consumer can not afford to keep their vehilce on the road, thats good for the manufactures they will sell more cars. But if the average consumer cant afford to buy new cars then thats going to be bad for the manufactures. The manufactures rely on the average consumer to purchase their commodity to stay in business.
If the average consumers lifetime car count increases because of EV’s, then so does manufacturing and the power industry, These are two of the leading carbon creating industries in the world making up more than 50% of the worlds carbon. So we are going to ramp those two polluting industries up to reduce the transportation incustry that is a sliver at 16%.
So Mr Amador keep your breath mints handy your going to be tasting alot more emmisions in the air but not from vehilce tail pipes instead from the two leading carbon creating industries.
Finally EV’s definitely has a place in our society. Just not for 100% of the average consumer that the manufactures are relying on.
NO ONE HAS EXPLAINED HOW ELECTRIC CHARGING IN HIGH RISE BLDGS 60/70 /80/ FLOORS ARE GOING TO SAFELY PROVIDE CHARGING EVEN IF HALF THE TENANTS DECIDE TO OWN EVS?????