No electric shock in store
September 7th, 2009 by Richard Aucock
CAR dealers have nothing to fear from the car of the future – and may become more important than ever.
Futuristic electric cars replace the combustion engine with a maintenance-free electric motor. This has concerned some future-gazers with an eye on aftersales.
But, says Vauxhall, rather than being displaced, car dealers will become an even more important part of the chain. That’s because the new technology is far more heavily based on electronic control specific to the firm.
‘Most of the electric motor parts are off the shelf – anyone can buy them,’ EV product manager Andreas Lassota told us. ‘But the systems that control that are specific to us – and it’s here where the secrets are,’
The cars are also fitted with a hi-tech lithium ion battery. This has a lengthy extended warranty, which will again require annual check-up visits to the car dealer for it to remain valid.
The safety-critical elements of car servicing remain, too. ‘There may be no engine, but cars will still require brake fluid checks, pad replacement, repairs to minor damage and so on.
‘Using an electric motor does not take away this need.’
Instead of being a threat, Lassota sees it as an opportunity for car dealers. ‘As all the control systems are developed by us, and are so key to the drive of the car, customers may become closer to their dealers.’
It will become routine to run simple plug-in heath checks, just as people run health checks for computers. ‘The dealer will have all the knowledge to do this, so will become their ‘expert’ in this field.’
The firm will not be rushing out software updates just for the sake of it, though. ‘As a car maker, if you have a proven system, you must think carefully before you bring out something new.
‘You already have a proven failure rate, proven warranty data – it is not always desirable to start again from scratch.
‘We’ve seen in the past that, where software updates are faster, customers experience less stability and more issues…’
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