EV mechanics shortage.

[Robmac]

There is a cultural dissonance between Northern Ireland and the rest of Ireland, Rob.
Trev is pretty accurate in many of the things he says about the North.

I noticed some of the subtle (and not so subtle!) differences last year and the same again this year. For me the contrast is quite stark.

But I know which part of Ireland I would prefer to visit every time!

Yes I know Marie, I had a mate who lived near Trev and I've been there many times, sadly he died last year. He reckoned Trev is very inaccurate about a lot of things he says about the North, as do one or 2 other residents who are members on here.

The trouble is Trev tends to generalise a lot when he speaks about his countrymen and they don't all appreciate it.

 

[HurricaneSmith]

I thought so too, but proper spring compressors couldn't take the strain. The garage had to put the spring in some kind of box and lower the hydrauluc ramp onto it. I was ushered out with mechanics.

 

[GeoffL]

I thought so too, but proper spring compressors couldn't take the strain. The garage had to put the spring in some kind of box and lower the hydrauluc ramp onto it. I was ushered out with mechanics.

and in a previous post ...

having first cleared the mechanics out of the workshop.

That would have immediately raised alarm bells for me... not that I'd be ungrateful for them fitting the part for free. However, I presume that they had a mechanic do the work and either the procedure was so secret that they only wanted the 'inner circle' to know how it was done, or the procedure they used violated some written or unwritten law (e.g. 'elf 'n safety'). As someone who occasionally had to 'bend the rules' (I had been known to say to my boss, "Sir, I'm not going to say that I'm about to do something dodgy, but you probably don't want to be in the [name of appropriate machinery space] for the next hour or two!") I know that expediency has its place -- particularly when there's no realistic alternative!

That said, there have been automotive repair procedures that require special tools for many, many decades. However, the specification of those tools was usually general knowledge and the vehicle manufacturer were not the only source of supply. So those tools were typically available from third party suppliers or you could often make them up yourself (or jury rig). Current shenanigans are a different kettle of fish. OBD2 was introduced as a legal requirement under US legislation and was meant to standardise data access across all vehicles -- both emissions testing and 'right to repair' were involved. But just like BMW made life difficult with their special screws, manufacturers are now using proprietary software to lock owners and independents out of maintaining their own vehicles. Worse, they're even fitting features and disabling them unless you give them more money in the form of a subscription. The car has all the hardware needed to fulfil that feature and, since it's actually embodied in the vehicle, you've paid for that hardware. But the manufacturer owns the right to turn it on or off -- so you don't truly own your own vehicle any more, no matter how much you paid for it!

 

[trevskoda]

Proper garages use a lever or hyd spring compressor like this.

 

[trevskoda]

Yes I know Marie, I had a mate who lived near Trev and I've been there many times, sadly he died last year. He reckoned Trev is very inaccurate about a lot of things he says about the North, as do one or 2 other residents who are members on here.

The trouble is Trev tends to generalise a lot when he speaks about his countrymen and they don't all appreciate it.

Problem is to many generals over here, i speak what i see, yes everyone not the same and times change for younger folk Rob.

 

[HurricaneSmith]

and in a previous post ...

That would have immediately raised alarm bells for me... not that I'd be ungrateful for them fitting the part for free. However, I presume that they had a mechanic do the work and either the procedure was so secret that they only wanted the 'inner circle' to know how it was done, or the procedure they used violated some written or unwritten law (e.g. 'elf 'n safety'). As someone who occasionally had to 'bend the rules' (I had been known to say to my boss, "Sir, I'm not going to say that I'm about to do something dodgy, but you probably don't want to be in the [name of appropriate machinery space] for the next hour or two!") I know that expediency has its place -- particularly when there's no realistic alternative!

That said, there have been automotive repair procedures that require special tools for many, many decades. However, the specification of those tools was usually general knowledge and the vehicle manufacturer were not the only source of supply. So those tools were typically available from third party suppliers or you could often make them up yourself (or jury rig). Current shenanigans are a different kettle of fish. OBD2 was introduced as a legal requirement under US legislation and was meant to standardise data access across all vehicles -- both emissions testing and 'right to repair' were involved. But just like BMW made life difficult with their special screws, manufacturers are now using proprietary software to lock owners and independents out of maintaining their own vehicles. Worse, they're even fitting features and disabling them unless you give them more money in the form of a subscription. The car has all the hardware needed to fulfil that feature and, since it's actually embodied in the vehicle, you've paid for that hardware. But the manufacturer owns the right to turn it on or off -- so you don't truly own your own vehicle any more, no matter how much you paid for it!

Great post - Thank you.

I'd tinkered on my cars for years, clambering over piles of three high vehicles in scrap heaps for a cheap second hand part, and also stripped down components on Saturday, queued up on Sunday morning with all the others to get to the desk with the guy who instinctively seemed to know every part for every car, and fitted it after lunch ready for work on Monday.

When I saw how much the spring extended (from memory about three times) I knew I had a problem.

To the garages credit, it was the Manager who put every mechanic outside in order to do the job himself. I only knew I was very lucky.

 

[Geek]

Blimey Trev. Do you conduct surveys to find the habits of all those local to you?

The average private car does 8,000 miles per year. Let's assume it is used 5.5 days per week.
That works out at 28 miles per day.
Of course there will be some longer trips, but not all that many.

 

[Geek]

The average private car does 8,000 miles per year. Let's assume it is used 5.5 days per week.
That works out at 28 miles per day.
Of course there will be some longer trips, but not all that many.

Correction: that figure was out of date. Apparently the average mileage is dropping. Now it is at 7,100 miles per year.
Shared across 5.5 days per week, that's less than 25 miles per day.

 

[GeoffL]

The average private car does 8,000 miles per year. Let's assume it is used 5.5 days per week.
That works out at 28 miles per day.
Of course there will be some longer trips, but not all that many.

Then:

Correction: that figure was out of date. Apparently the average mileage is dropping. Now it is at 7,100 miles per year.
Shared across 5.5 days per week, that's less than 25 miles per day.

If you're going to impose something on everyone and claim that something to be the best for everyone, extremes need to be considered; not the average... An EV might be a sensible choice for someone who can charge at home and hardly, if ever, exceeds a realistic real-world mileage each day. However, just over 40% of the population do not have off-street parking (and so cannot charge at home) and many exceed that average daily mileage (as with any average, there is a range and roughly half of the sample will be greater than that average), with a significant number regularly exceeding the effective real-world range of an EV. I suspect that this means an EV is not a sensible choice for maybe roughly half of the population.
An example of two extremes -- a friend lives a few hundred yards from a mainline railway station, so she uses the train wherever possible and she has friends (like us) who happily give her a lift if we're going to the same event. She bought the car a few months ago and last night told us she'd put in £30 of petrol over a month ago and was still nowhere near needing a refill. OTOH, Jan and I do about 12,000 miles a year in the car and 5,000 miles a year in the motorhome. We probably use the car on average 5 days a week, so that's an average of 65 miles per day, but that average hides the fact that many typical days see us racking up well over 100 miles in the car and an average motorhome trip is probably five or six hundred miles over four days of travel.

 

[Robmac]

The average private car does 8,000 miles per year. Let's assume it is used 5.5 days per week.
That works out at 28 miles per day.
Of course there will be some longer trips, but not all that many.

Not sure what that has to do with anything, but well done!

 

[trevskoda]

Correction: that figure was out of date. Apparently the average mileage is dropping. Now it is at 7,100 miles per year.
Shared across 5.5 days per week, that's less than 25 miles per day.

12 thu miles a year, some days i do 100 miles and been nowhere of importance, last car i had 15 years and did 314.000 miles, this car 9 years and 150.000 and now on my second engine/g box unit.
My late g fathers last few cars or car a ford feasko after 7 years had only 7 th on the clock, he only went half a mile to colect pension and qtr of a miles for shoping/fags about once a week .

 

[Geek]

I used to average 110 miles per day. That's 770 miles per week. I was driving an LPG converted car, which was cheap to run at the time, though I recall having to buy new tyres quite often.
Now I do about 5k in the motorhome, 5k in the car.
No way would it make sense for me to have an EV.

 

[Geek]

Then:


If you're going to impose something on everyone and claim that something to be the best for everyone, extremes need to be considered; not the average... An EV might be a sensible choice for someone who can charge at home and hardly, if ever, exceeds a realistic real-world mileage each day. However, just over 40% of the population do not have off-street parking (and so cannot charge at home) and many exceed that average daily mileage (as with any average, there is a range and roughly half of the sample will be greater than that average), with a significant number regularly exceeding the effective real-world range of an EV. I suspect that this means an EV is not a sensible choice for maybe roughly half of the population.
An example of two extremes -- a friend lives a few hundred yards from a mainline railway station, so she uses the train wherever possible and she has friends (like us) who happily give her a lift if we're going to the same event. She bought the car a few months ago and last night told us she'd put in £30 of petrol over a month ago and was still nowhere near needing a refill. OTOH, Jan and I do about 12,000 miles a year in the car and 5,000 miles a year in the motorhome. We probably use the car on average 5 days a week, so that's an average of 65 miles per day, but that average hides the fact that many typical days see us racking up well over 100 miles in the car and an average motorhome trip is probably five or six hundred miles over four days of travel.

Straw man argument. I am not imposing something on anyone. I am just injecting facts into a discussion.
My next door neighbours are now on their third EV. They like it, but I would not want to face the incredible depreciation.

 

[GeoffL]

Straw man argument. I am not imposing something on anyone. I am just injecting facts into a discussion.
My next door neighbours are now on their third EV. They like it, but I would not want to face the incredible depreciation.

That wasn't a straw man argument -- or a confrontational argument of any kind. Perhaps it would have been better to write, "If one is going to impose..." because the "you" didn't mean Geek; it was the general form. Some who wish to impose EVs on everyone (even on those for who an EV makes zero sense) have cited low average daily mileage as "proof" that nobody needs more range than an EV can readily provide. I merely presented some facts that demonstrate reasons why those claims are false.

 

[Geek]

That wasn't a straw man argument -- or a confrontational argument of any kind. Perhaps it would have been better to write, "If one is going to impose..." because the "you" didn't mean Geek; it was the general form. Some who wish to impose EVs on everyone (even on those for who an EV makes zero sense) have cited low average daily mileage as "proof" that nobody needs more range than an EV can readily provide. I merely presented some facts that demonstrate reasons why those claims are false.

When replying to a specific post written by a specific person, it is not unreasonable to assume that "you" is referring to an individual.

Regardless of that, it WAS a straw man argument. Nobody is imposing EVs on anyone. The average car in the UK is well over ten years old.

Assume that petrol cars really are phased out by 2030 (seems unlikely) and hybrids by 2035, they will still be around in 2045 and beyond.

Remember the plans to phase out FM radio due to DAB taking over? How is that going?

 

[GeoffL]

When replying to a specific post written by a specific person, it is not unreasonable to assume that "you" is referring to an individual.

That would depend on the context. This time, I am addressing you (@Geek ) but from the context of the previous post it should have been obvious that my post referred to a generalisation and not to you specifically, if for no other reason that you (@Geek) do not have the power to impose anything like EVs on the nation!

Regardless of that, it WAS a straw man argument. Nobody is imposing EVs on anyone. The average car in the UK is well over ten years old.

Assume that petrol cars really are phased out by 2030 (seems unlikely) and hybrids by 2035, they will still be around in 2045 and beyond.

Yet it is the policy of our government to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030 and to demand that an ever increasing percentage of new cars be EVs (or other 'zero emission' vehicles should a viable alternative exist). They did the something similar with steam powered cars, which failed in the UK primarily due to hostile legislation, specifically the Locomotive Acts of the 1860s, which severely restricted their use and speed. Vehicles have a life expectancy; components wear out and need to be replaced and aggressive legislation is proposed that would make the replacement of components of 'major systems' unlawful on cars over 15 years old (other than 'classic cars'). This includes engines, transmission, steering and brakes -- so potentially forcing a 15+ year old car off the road the first time it needs new brake pads! This is part of the EU's "fit for '55" plan.

Remember the plans to phase out FM radio due to DAB taking over? How is that going?

Now that is a straw man argument! Firstly, there is no current plan to phase out FM; albeit that this has been under consideration for some time and a phase out is expected at some time in the future. The government is committed to maintaining FM services until at least 2030. This after a review in 2021 deemed an earlier switch-off to be premature. There is an ongoing review that is expected to extend that until at least 2040. 75% of radio listening is now digital. However, this has been due to public demand (i.e. popular consensus) and not from government edict. The government is committed to maintaining FM radio while there is reasonable public demand. The enforced switch to EVs is a completely different kettle of fish.