As gas prices continue to climb and the government encourages a reduction in our nation’s fuel dependency, the development and acceptance of hybrid vehicles is inevitable. Despite consumers’ growing enthusiasm for this new vehicle technology, as well as rampant research from automakers, there’s a bit of resistance from the aftermarket to get prepared for this new segment.
Frankly, it seems jobbers haven’t spent much time preparing their counterpeople for this vehicle segment. Some we spoke with were even embarrassed to admit how very little they knew about hybrids.
As for repair shops, Craig Van Batenburg, CEO of Automotive Career Development Center (ACDC), estimates that about 10 percent is ready now to work on hybrid vehicles, but he expects that to grow. He has trained thousands of technicians in hybrid repair at ACDC and training events around the U.S. and Canada.
“It’s fear,” Van Batenburg notes. “The drama (of hybrids) is enhanced by the fact that we have a high voltage system with enough power to kill you. In my classroom, I diminish the fear level. I’m getting out there so people can stop being afraid. I’ve gone to salvage yards and taken high voltage NiMH batteries out of vehicles in adverse conditions” to demonstrate to the industry that repair can be done safely.
One company that isn’t resting on its laurels during the hybrid craze is CARQUEST, which started delivering hybrid training last August at the CARQUEST Technical Institute (CTI).
Chris Chesney, director of technical training with CTI, says that in addition to fostering customer relationships with their professional tech customers, investing in hybrid training is important because “the OEs are really trying to capture and retain that market for themselves. Everything that they’re doing with respect to the service and warranty are aligned to keep that vehicle out of our hands, and we’re working hard to counter that,” he states. “We want to ensure that the aftermarket technicians are prepared to service those vehicles as well as or even better than the OE can.”
CARQUEST also has an internal initiative in development to begin delivering hybrid training to their counterpeople. “We have brought them up to speed on equipment and parts needed to service hybrids safely,” Chesney says.
Because hybrid owners are typically in the do-it-for-me crowd, a counterperson probably won’t have to explain hybrid components to someone walking into a parts store. However, for their professional customers, knowing the language and safety issues should be a top priority.
Facing reality
“I think if you look at the volumes sold now, (the aftermarket is) probably going to see hybrids in ’07 and ’08,” says Lonnie Miller, managing director with the R. L. Polk Center for Automotive Studies. “Definitely by 2009, you’re going to have secondhand owners,” and as hybrids are made in more body styles, they’re going to be in service bays, he adds.
Lance Ealey, director of automotive practice with The Freedonia Group, agrees. “The trend toward hybrid vehicles that are coming in light of gas price surges in the last year seems pretty secure. Whatever the experts say regarding whether they really can provide a better alternative, the hybrid has captured the consumers’ imagination. It seems clear the trend will continue.” He thinks hybrids will show up in higher numbers on today’s roadways and in our bays in the next five years.
Many of the technicians CARQUEST has trained have already seen hybrids in their bays, says Chesney. “Obviously it’s a huge topic with the government focused on it, and everyone is taking the opportunity to get ready. It’s going to grow extremely quickly.”
Unidentified suppliers
As far as who will supply these hybrid components, no one really knows for sure, although it appears it’s being tackled mostly by the OEMs.
“The majority of service parts for Ford Motor Company are supplied by the production supplier,” states Kristen Kinley, manager, Ford Customer Service Division Public Affairs. “There will be no difference with this strategy in the source of service parts on the Escape Hybrid and Mariner Hybrid due to the unique and specialized hybrid systems.”
GM recently announced it will design and build the first light-duty integrated hybrid transmission. The transmission will go into production next year and will initially be used in the Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon. A press release states that GM, DaimlerChrysler and the BMW Group are jointly developing the light-duty, two-mode technology, which uses a variable transmission with two electric motors and two hybrid modes of operation.
Additional research into hybrid components includes Johnson Controls and Saft. These companies recently launched a joint venture to supply advanced-technology batteries for current- and future-generation hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles, researching nickel-metal-hydride and lithium-ion batteries.
TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. is developing advanced regenerative braking technologies, specifically, Slip Control Boost (SLB) and Active Hydraulic Boost (AHB), for hybrids as well.
Winds of change
Our industry, starting with the manufacturers and working its way down the chain, needs to be prepared.
“It’s going to be an OEM game for awhile,” notes Ealey. “Unless you are a company with an aftermarket arm and are also supplying components to the OEM and have the skills to generate your own product line, it’s a very big bet for an aftermarket supplier to jump into these things. But as the market matures, we will see more of the independent suppliers jumping into the mix.
“The poor aftermarket player has been buffeted by winds of change over the last 10 years,” continues Ealey, who adds that there will be “an awful lot of handholding in the early years” among aftermarket distribution partners. “I think training and shop front support is going to be critical, such as hotlines and creating co-op training centers.”
The aftermarket also should connect with the energy-conscious hybrid audience through marketing and customer event opportunities, advises Miller.
For example, host workshops on understanding how to work on hybrids, check for the availability of hybrid racing sponsorships in your area and attend seminars and energy trade events so you can be more aware of industry issues.
“Capitalize on the marketing and affinity of this base so (independent shops) are not losing the business to the dealers just because consumers think you’re a traditional aftermarket shop. Get the public to know that you’re educated in that specialty,” Miller says.
And the jobbers and counterpeople wanting to be more fluent with hybrids from a business standpoint should plug into the overall community of hybrids, he adds. “They’re not going to come knocking on the doorsteps of the aftermarket. The aftermarket needs to go where people are talking about it and know the implications.”
Van Batenburg suggests that driving a hybrid around town, especially one with a banner for your company on it, is the best marketing there is. ACDC owns four hybrids.
“You can also host events for hybrid-driving consumers,” he adds, describing road tests where prizes are awarded for the best gas mileage.
Answering service questions
Service and maintenance are pretty similar in a hybrid vehicle with the exception of a few hybrid-specific parts and high-voltage electrical connections, says Van Batenburg.
He advises technicians to get a DVOM, a Digital Volt Ohm Meter rated CAT III, that costs under $500, and electrical lineman gloves, which can be found online for between $60 and $100, to work on hybrids. He says hybrid-specific parts include high-voltage battery packs, inverters, DC/DC converters and electric motors. These components usually fall under the longer warranties of hybrid models.
“Almost all cars have a three-year, 36,000-mile warranty for the whole car, and parts of the car, whether hybrid or not, are warranted longer,” he explains. “Suzuki has a 100,000 mile warranty, but no one is upset with Suzuki because once the car gets older, most parts aren’t warranted. If the transmission goes bad on a Civic Hybrid at 38,000 miles, it’s out of warranty. And the independent repair market can fix that.”
Van Batenburg says this warranty perception that the automakers have stressed is not as problematic as our industry thinks. Some hybrid components, such as the battery, are warranted longer, usually eight years and 80,000 miles or more, but he suggests checking with the manufacturer’s warranty guide.
Ealey is aware of the concern surrounding these hybrid parts. “Brakes are a big money maker for a lot of service providers. Because of regenerative braking...over time, that could have a significant impact on the number of brake jobs any service provider does in a given year.”
He is confident the aftermarket will be able to get a portion of the battery and brake replacement business, however. Although Toyota recently said they anticipate batteries lasting the life of a vehicle, Ealey doesn’t think that’s a viable business decision and tends to believe there will be a market for replacement battery service.
Van Batenburg also notes that scan tools work on hybrid vehicles. “If you get a code that reads POA, the ‘A’ is a hybrid code. And just like anything else, you go over and look it up and do other tests to make sure the code is accurate before replacing the component.”
A mixture of training
The Automotive Career Development Center offers a four-day hybrid training class called “Up your Voltage! Four days of Hybrid Heaven,” a hands-on class spent disassembling hybrids.
The classes are sold out through October, but ACDC’s website, www.auto-careers.org, offers additional resources and has the four-day hybrid classes scheduled for 2007. Interested parties can also request forms to become a Qualified Hybrid Automotive Technician, and qualified shops are listed in a finder tool on his website.
Macomb Community College, in partnership with Wayne State University, was awarded a $298,000 grant last August from the National Science Foundation — Advanced Technological Education to offer a hybrid electric vehicle curriculum.
Macomb’s Dean of Engineering and Advanced Technology Jim Sawyer says, “There are more and more HEVs (hybrid electric vehicles) on the road, and we felt the need to train our graduates on the latest technology in the marketplace.” Macomb’s automotive program has about 1,000 students enrolled, but Macomb graduates and others in the industry will be able to take advantage of this curriculum.
Starting this fall will be a Hybrid Electric Vehicle Fundamentals course, and a Hybrid Electric Vehicle Powertrain and Controls class will begin in winter 2007. In addition, Macomb is revising its “Auto 1000” class to include modules on hybrids. These courses will be subject to the college’s regular tuition rates, but the grant has allowed for the development of five free workshops that will serve as an introduction to HEV technology. These workshops will offer courses for independent repair facilities, as well as K-12 automotive teachers, emergency first responders and the general public, and will run over a three-year period.
If your employees or professional customers are interested, visit www.macomb.edu and type HEV in the search area, or call (586) 445-7012 for more information.
Chesney says that CARQUEST will train about 10,000 techs this year in hybrid repair. The hybrid training and a learning management system will also be available midyear on their website, www.carquest.com/cti.
“Hybrids will be around forever because you can hybridize anything,” offers Van Batenburg. “In hybridization, you just recapture energy that you normally lose, store that energy in a battery and use it later to propel us forward. An electric motor works alongside the gasoline engine. Seeing as that technology is developed now, why not use it? Every year they make the hybrid parts smaller, better, cheaper; it’s like the electronics industry with computers. That industry always makes things faster, better, less expensive every year.”
Hybrid vehicles fuse into the market
Recent statistics from the Polk Center for Automotive Studies note that hybrid registrations in the U.S. from 2004 to 2005 went up 139 percent, an increase of 199,148 units. In 2004, registration was 83,203 units; in 2003, it was 45,954 units.
“We had some analysis done earlier this year and I’d say between 2006 and 2010, (we’re) probably going to be pushing about 800,000 new hybrid units in the U.S.,” says Lonnie Miller with the R. L. Polk Center for Automotive Studies.
There are currently eight hybrid models in the market. In addition to the Prius (still the market share leader) and Insight, there is the Ford Escape, Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Lexus RX400h, Mercury Mariner and Toyota Highlander. By 2007, we should expect the Chevrolet Malibu and Tahoe, Nissan Altima, Toyota Camry, Dodge Durango, Dodge Ram and more, according to Hybridcars.com.
Falling in love with diesel
Although hybrid technology is taking the lead in fuel technology, all automakers are fighting the environmental battle and using R&D to develop additional fuel sources. E85 (a fuel blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline) is one fuel source in the news, as is fuel cell technology
In a recent Edmunds.com article, editors stated that the European continent had “fallen head over heels for diesel engines” but their downside is price, and the cost factor plus advancements in engine technology have analysts thinking Americans might not adopt diesels any time soon.
According to a release from DaimlerChrysler, Mercedes-Benz introduced a diesel technology called the BLUETEC system at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, with models expected in the U.S. this fall.
The Freedonia Group’s Lance Ealey says he would never discount diesels. “The diesel has a very good shot at taking some of the potential demand that hybrids could see. But on the other hand, the U.S. consumer is very wary of diesels based on experiences back in the ’70s and some of the poor diesels on the market then. People tend to have elephant memories on that type of thing.”
In other developments, Joerg Dittmer, senior industry analyst with Frost & Sullivan, says if cost-competitive fuel cell vehicles become available, they could sweep away hybrids, although that appears to be a long way off.
Thoughts from the Editorial Advisory Board
Andy Fiffick, CEO of Rad Air Service Centers Inc., a six-location repair business in Cleveland, Ohio, says his was the first chain of shops to be trained and certified in hybrid repair. Although he’s taking a proactive approach to hybrid repair, Fiffick says, realistically, the aftermarket will start seeing hybrids in their bays between 2010 and 2015.
The hybrid market “is solely going to the dealerships because they are the only ones who are advertising for that business,” he says, adding that warranties are also keeping new vehicles out of the aftermarket. “I would say (repair shops) should start hybrid training as soon as the market develops in their respective area. Most likely, about three years from now.”
Fiffick, who drives a hybrid, says all the maintenance items on hybrids are almost identical to regular hydrocarbon vehicles. “As far as being so unique on maintenance, there is almost nothing that is unique. (We’re told) oil changes should be changed to 10,000 miles on hybrids. And because of regenerative braking, if you change brake pads at 30,000 miles now, it’s probably going to be 60,000-70,000 miles on hybrids.”
He also suggests air filter replacement may be 30,000 miles because the engine isn’t always running. “If anything, it’s going to take away maintenance repairs for the aftermarket and repair industry. And being that they aren’t going to be in the market for three to five years, I don’t see a big impact on the aftermarket marketplace for 10 years.”
Fiffick’s best advice? Keep a watchful eye on hybrids, but don’t be scared of them. “Pay attention to what’s coming down the pike and then get ready when your individual situation dictates.”
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