Scales tipping in favour of EVs

The makeup of the national fleet is changing rapidly as electric vehicles, hybrid and plug-in-hybrid technology becomes more prolific.

June saw another hurrah for new vehicle sales as changes to the Clean Car Standard were phased in, and changes to the Clean Car Discount took effect. Broadly speaking, the intention of these schemes has been to speed up the adoption of vehicles with lower carbon emissions, while simultaneously slowing down the uptake of vehicles at the highemitting end of the spectrum.

As a nation we currently run in excess of three million light vehicles, yet we register into the country as either genuinely new or usedimport - under a quarter of a million vehicles per year. This means that although the adoption of electrified vehicles becomes exponential, any technological tail, with our current average fleet age of approaching 15 years, will be long.

Save significant regulatory change, it seems likely that combustion engine vehicles will be around for a few decades to come. But herein lies a trap that many automotive repair and maintenance businesses would do well to consider. Ask yourself, have you considered how an electrifying fleet will change what is required of you and your business?

Much is written of Kodak – once a camera company with a near monopoly on film manufacturing. In the greatest of ironies, they invented the digital camera in the mid-70s, yet wouldn’t adjust their business to suit the changing market for fear of losing film sales. Ultimately, the business failed and Kodak was consigned to history.

As the market moved to digital photography Kodak was left behind. You could read a similar story about Blockbuster Video and their failure to embrace online streaming, though if you want to read about either in more depth, Google is your friend and I won’t attempt to recount those stories here.

At MTA, our members ‘fix, fuel, repair and maintain’ the country’s fleet of vehicles. We collectively ‘keep New Zealand moving’, but we are at a moment in history where the way in which those vehicles move is changing. Electricity is replacing oil and, whether we like it or not, with every major vehicle manufacturer in the world having committed to a solely electric fleet on one timescale or another, the future is undeniably electric.

Change required

Consequently, what is required of the automotive sector will change through time. EVs require less maintenance, but they are not maintenance free. Our global love affair with private vehicle ownership seems to have long legs yet, but every year that passes there will be a few more EVs on the road and a few less ICE vehicles. While the parallels between the small number of producers in film manufacture, the near monopoly of video rental, and our automotive sector with thousands of small and independent businesses are fairly slim, what we do have in common is circumstance. Technology is changing.

Just because Kodak didn’t like the commercial viability of digital photography, it didn’t go away. Just because Blockbuster couldn’t see the commercial viability of online streaming, it didn’t go away. And just because there is less to repair and maintain with electric vehicles, they won’t go away either. Every week I’m fortunate to speak with a variety of our members working across different sectors and in different parts of the country. It’s evident that some have an eye on the future, but unfortunate that many more are preoccupied thinking about the next few weeks.

Remain relevant

I would encourage all of you to have a good long think about how your business will need to change to remain relevant through the next decade and beyond. How confident are you that you know what you’re doing with that BYD Atto, Audi e-tron, Tesla Model Y, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV or Nissan NV200? Not big enough to worry about? A problem for tomorrow? Someone else’s problem?

EVs may be a fringe product now, but the scales are tipping at a rate that will only increase. And if you don’t adjust your business, I promise the opportunity won’t go away. It will simply be swallowed up by another business or even worse, a new entrant that can see the opportunity you are leaving open. Right now it would appear the door is open in our industry. My suggestion to all of you is... fill that space. Take the opportunity. Because if you don’t someone else will!