Hi Scotty,
Now that Ford Lightning, Hummer EV, Chevy Silverado EV (Soon to be out), GMC Denali EV (Soon to be out), and so on are out, what are the dealerships doing for mechanics? I heard you say the Rivian has to be towed to dealers but are now not covered by warranty for towing. Do you think with the bigger manufactures building EV's that there will be more mechanics available for EV's. What do you think dealerships will do for training mechanics on the EV's? Will they train all mechanics in the dealership or some? Would love to hear your thoughts.
Welcome new member!
To ask the question is to answer it.
I hate to get into quasi-political issues on this forum (and I will try to not go beyond what is relevant to this discussion). But the objective truth is that electric cars (and trucks) are the greatest fraud in the history of transportation, possibly second only to high-speed rail.
The specifics of who is available and qualified to service them, and how efficient and cost-effective service and repairs are will vary widely among specific locations. But you can safely predict that dealer support for these vehicles will be spotty, and non-dealer service close to nonexistent in many places.
I remember last year the TFL guys bought a Tesla to review. Shortly after they bought it, they had a minor fender bender. As I recall, there was only 1 body shop in the Boulder, CO area willing and/or qualified to fix it, and the car was out of action for 3 months waiting for parts; Tesla hadn't allocated adequate parts to the supply chain for repairs. And you are talking about someone with a million followers on their YouTube channel. How would it go for a regular person?
Well, if Tesla, the premier electric vehicle company in the world, can't get their act together, how is GM (or Ford, of Hyundai or anyone else) going to do any better?
So, no, there will not be enough (competent) mechanics, parts or anything else to support EV sales. For the foreseeable future, you will have to assume that the entire electric vehicle ownership experience - service, fuel, repairs, everything - will fail to live up to the hype.
Or as PT Barnum would say, "There's a new EV owner born every minute."
Link here: TFL
