REPAIRING EVS VS. ICE VEHICLES
BY MICHAEL VAVAROUTSOS
There are some major differences—and tools—required for electric vehicle repairs, compared to ICE vehicles. For starters, EVs have a high voltage battery and high currents circulating through the entire unit. That’s the first maze the collision repair technician is faced with when they take on an EV. It’s imperative to take proper precautions when beginning an EV repair. David Mayers, CEO of EV training provider Environmental Motorworks (EMW) stresses this.
“EVs contain voltage wiring throughout the unit, they can be in the weirdest spots. When it comes to collision repair, it can be quite dangerous,” he explained.
“You don’t have that in an ICE vehicle, you never have to worry about a wire that’s hanging down. But you really must power down these EVs in order to work on them safely.”
Mayers added that EMW has done small training exercises to demonstrate the dangers of working with these high voltage vehicles. “In one situation at our training course, we had an example where we show that even the smallest wiring—maybe around 18 gauge—carries some pretty high voltage.”
While body panels and vehicle aesthetics of EVs used to be similar to that of ICE counterparts, automakers are becoming a little more exploratory with vehicle design and material.
“Going back to the first generations of EVs, they were not really built as electric vehicles—they were like adapted ICE vehicles. At that time, many of the body parts and things like that were very much the same. But in the next generations, you’re seeing that they are very different.” David Giles, EV education product specialist for ConsuLab and president of PoweredEV, says that manufacturers are continuously experimenting with different materials and processes for EVs.
All electric vehicles use metal, aluminium or even magnesium, said Giles. While the materials are like ones in which ICE vehicles use, the way in which they are used can be quite different.
“Aluminium forming is another big thing. Rather than having separate sections bolted together, they’re all [molded] in one piece,” Giles said, referring to methods like gigacasting.
“Where we conventionally would have rails, rear frame rails and so on that could be attached and removed. Some of these newer cars don’t have that capability. That means in a severe rear end collision, it’s more likely the car will be a total loss in comparison to ICE vehicles.” The question of if EVs take longer to repair than ICE vehicles has been raised since EVs came into popularity. The fact of the matter is that EVs can sometimes take longer to repair, due to the electrical components mounted and placed in different areas within the engine bay and elsewhere inside the vehicle.
“I don’t think they take longer,” said Giles, “but I think there’s an inherent respect for the vehicles, knowing there’s high voltage there.
“At the end of the day, the vehicles themselves run the same, but having to remove the high voltage components can definitely be a little more time consuming.”
As EVs continue to increase in popularity, bodyshops should take the time to understand the differences of how to repair these types of vehicles. Since these vehicles are still relatively new to the market, it is important to take on as much specialized training as possible to ensure that technicians are EV-ready.
“Collision centres need to look at their own capacity, technician skill level, tooling requirements, charging infrastructure, model mix of vehicles, partnership with local dealers and insurance relations, as well as stay on top of industry trends to ensure it makes business sense for them to offer and provide EV repairs,” said Paul Stella, manager of collision repair and refinish at Toyota Canada.
This not only involves the understanding of different components in an EV, but also being trained in safety precautions, proper repair procedures and handling, repairing and replacing the high voltage batteries.
“It’s extremely important for any collision repair centre to follow all manufacturer instructions and guidelines, especially the repair manual, to ensure proper steps are followed,” said Stella.
