The Workshop Transition

By: Anonymous Fleet Manager

Oh boy! Here we go. Another change for the workshops.

I keep hearing about this EV transition. No matter what I read or what people are telling me it’s always the same question. How many electric vehicles do organisations have in their fleet now?

If I were to guess across the industry…umm…probably less than 5 on average per organisation. Maybe less than 3 on average.

Well, it seems that most at least have their token EV with branding showing that they’ve gone green. Wonderful! But there’s a storm coming beyond the acquisition.

Traditional workshops that are planning to service these high-voltage-computers-on-wheels are about to have a huge wake-up call. It’s going to require a complete revamp of policies, procedures, and perish the thought, people.

For starters, the latest EVs have close to 50 CPUs on board. These are the central processors that execute instructions of a computer program to control vehicle operations. So much for your mechanics doing PMs with a wrench and oily rag.

Skills and knowledge are now required to safely depower and reinitialise BEVs, HEVs and PHEVs to ensure a vehicle’s rechargeable energy storage system is isolated before commencing any service or repair work. And let’s not even get into the emergency response tactical training required to deal with EVs as a potential fire hazard. The whole thing makes my head spin!

So, buckle up folks! It’s not just about the number of EVs on the road or the number of charging stations. It’s also about keeping EVs on the road safely without increasing risks to the workshop and staff.

To stop our Anonymous Fleet Manager (AFM) blowing a gasket, we created Internal Combustion, a monthly column for fleet-related rants that lets him blow off some steam. Got a fleet gripe you'd like to get his opinion on? Email the editor who will pass it on to AFM... when he's in a good enough mood, that is.