Affordable to Buy, Unaffordable to Repair: The Pain Point of New Energy Vehicles Needs Attention

Not long ago, Mr. Li, a new energy vehicle owner in Chengdu, found that his NFC car key could not unlock the door or start the car. The staff of a local auto repair shop were all at a loss. In the end...

Not long ago, Mr. Li, a new energy vehicle owner in Chengdu, found that his NFC car key could not unlock the door or start the car. The staff of a local auto repair shop were all at a loss. In the end, Mr. Li had to contact the vehicle manufacturer for remote handling to start the car.

In recent years, China's new energy vehicles have entered a fast track, but the shortage of maintenance talents has also become increasingly prominent. Many people lament that new energy vehicles are "easy to buy but hard to repair."

According to the rule that "the after-sales market lags behind by 5 years," the relatively concentrated maintenance period for new energy vehicles is coming. How to solve the maintenance problem? The reporter conducted an investigation.

01

Difficult and expensive car repairs

Jiao Haoran, a new energy vehicle owner in Baoji, Shaanxi, told the reporter that there is only one manufacturer's maintenance center for the brand he purchased locally, and he almost has to queue every time he goes for maintenance. "Once, it took more than half a month for the car to be repaired."

Apart from the after-sales service system of new energy vehicle manufacturers, traditional auto repair shops that are everywhere generally cannot repair new energy vehicles.

A new energy vehicle repair technician needs to have at least two certificates: an automotive repairer certificate and an electrician certificate. The person in charge of an auto repair shop in Nan'an District, Chongqing, told the reporter that the shop has 8 technicians, only one of whom has an electrician certificate, and the shop has not obtained any maintenance authorization from any new energy vehicle brand. It can only engage in basic business such as tire replacement, appearance modification, paint treatment, or sheet metal repair.

The person in charge of another auto repair shop, Feng Chuan, introduced that currently, only 8% to 10% of the vehicles repaired by the shop are new energy vehicles. "We also want to expand the new energy vehicle repair business, but car owners won't let us repair the 'three electricity' core components, and we don't have the relevant capabilities," said Feng Chuan.

It's not just difficult to repair cars, but expensive car repairs are also a pain point.A car owner in Chongqing drives a new energy SUV priced at nearly 300,000 yuan daily. Recently, they spent 18,000 yuan to replace a taillight at a 4S store. Another car owner drives a range-extended SUV at the same price and spent over 1,300 yuan to change the engine oil and filter at a 4S store — the maintenance project is only quoted at more than 600 yuan in chain auto repair shops. "During the vehicle warranty period, if repairs and maintenance are not carried out at the manufacturer's 4S store, it will 'void the warranty'. So I can only accept this high price," the car owner said.

Industry insiders pointed out that the high cost of repairing new energy vehicles is related to the small proportion of new energy vehicles in the market and the scarcity of circulating parts; on the other hand, there are fewer new energy vehicle repair shops with maintenance capabilities in the market, and competition is insufficient.

In recent years, there have been frequent complaints about the maintenance of new energy vehicles, including unresolved faults, poor after-sales attitude, delayed repairs, and insufficient supply of parts.

In May 2023, the China Consumer Association released a "Special Report on Automobile Complaints" showing that consumers' concentrated complaints in the after-sales and supporting services of new energy vehicles mainly include poor after-sales service experience such as maintenance and repair, including multiple repairs still not being able to use normally; excessive maintenance or fraud in car repairs; 4S store transfers causing damage to consumer rights and interests; and no after-sales guarantee for consumer vehicles after car companies go bankrupt and withdraw from the market.

02

Why is there a shortage of maintenance personnel?

Relevant data shows that there are hundreds of thousands of car maintenance-related enterprises in China, among which there are less than 20,000 new energy vehicle maintenance enterprises, and there are currently less than 100,000 technicians engaged in the maintenance of new energy vehicles.

Reporters learned that new energy vehicle owners often choose to repair and maintain their vehicles at the 4S stores or maintenance and service centers of the whole vehicle manufacturers. The maintenance and service centers of new energy vehicle manufacturers mostly adopt a direct operation model, with one maintenance and service center serving multiple sales centers. The number of maintenance and service centers is relatively small, and the network density is obviously lower than that of traditional car 4S stores, resulting in longer waiting times for some car owners for repairs and maintenance.

The reporter found that there are multiple reasons behind the shortage of new energy vehicle maintenance personnel.

— There are barriers to professionalism, hindering the transformation of technicians. The person in charge of Tuhu Car Maintenance introduced that compared with traditional fuel vehicles, new energy vehicles have a higher degree of digitalization, and there are significantly more electronic and communication failures. Taking the power battery as an example, due to safety issues such as high voltage involved in the system, coupled with different internal structures and working principles of different products, the difficulty of repair is relatively large once a failure occurs."Mechanical knowledge is relatively concrete, but knowledge of electricity and electronics is much more abstract. Faults need to be indirectly reflected through various equipment inspections, which greatly increases the learning threshold," said Cao Gefei, Director of User Services at Avita. Traditional auto repair shop technicians are mostly mechanics, and their ability to learn the principles of electrification is insufficient.

Ran Qingbing is a new energy vehicle maintenance technician at Tuhu Auto Care, who has been engaged in fuel vehicle maintenance work for nearly 20 years. A couple of years ago, he realized that the industry was about to change, so he made up his mind to transform. Through participating in training courses, online classes, self-study, etc., he finally mastered the relevant skills. However, it is not easy for most auto repair industry practitioners to overcome the above difficulties.

— Vocational colleges and schools lack training efforts and cannot meet market demand. At present, the demand for new energy vehicle maintenance and maintenance talents continues to rise. Overall, the scale of talent training in vocational colleges and schools is still insufficient.

Yang Hao, Director of the Automotive Engineering Department of Chongqing Industry and Trade Technician College, said that the college currently offers a major in new energy vehicle maintenance, with more than 400 graduates each year, and it is currently impossible to expand the training scale. "In recent years, almost all the students we train sign contracts with major car manufacturers before graduation," said Yang Hao, which also leads to new energy vehicle maintenance talents not being able to go down to the vast number of auto repair stores.

The continuous "new" new energy technology also brings challenges to talent training. Yang Hao frankly said that new energy vehicles are accelerating towards intelligence and networking, teachers feel it is not easy to master cutting-edge technology in a timely manner, and students find it even more difficult to learn.

— The core technology of the whole vehicle has not been opened to the outside world, and traditional auto repair shops cannot repair and dare not repair. Gao Lei, the person in charge of Chongqing Lishenghang Automobile Sales Service Co., Ltd., told reporters that due to the core technology of the battery, motor, and electric control "three electricity" system of each new energy vehicle brand not being open to the outside world, it is difficult for general traditional auto repair shops to obtain the manufacturer's maintenance authorization. If the problem involves a "three electricity" system failure, traditional auto repair shops often cannot repair and dare not repair.

03

Precisely strengthen talent training and expand manufacturer service channels

As of the end of June 2024, the national new energy vehicle stock reached 24.72 million, and new energy vehicle maintenance is becoming a blue ocean market.

In response to the shortage of talents, various new energy vehicle auto repair training classes have emerged like mushrooms after rain, and a large number of traditional auto repair talents are transforming to learn the maintenance of new energy vehicles.Industry standards are also continuously being improved. Last year, the China Automotive Maintenance Industry Association released the group standards "New Energy Vehicle Maintenance Professional Skills Evaluation Standards" and "New Energy Vehicle Power Battery Inspection and Maintenance Standards"; recently, the national standard "New Energy Vehicle Operation Safety Performance Inspection Regulations" was published and will officially come into effect on March 1, 2025.

In the future, how can we better solve the shortage of new energy vehicle maintenance personnel?

Yang Hao said that relevant vocational colleges and technical schools should accelerate the establishment of new energy vehicle maintenance majors and gradually expand enrollment. In response to the current characteristics of rapid technology updates and iterations in new energy vehicles, vocational colleges and technical schools should also strengthen in-depth cooperation with automobile industry enterprises to enhance the integration of industry and education.

At the same time, further promote the transformation of traditional auto repair technicians towards new energy. Cao Gefei said that with the continuous increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, traditional auto repair shops should plan for the maintenance field of new energy vehicles as soon as possible. Relevant industry associations can help introduce professional training courses, strengthen job transfer training and vocational training, and provide support for traditional auto repair technicians to "change from oil to electricity".

Lin Yun, an associate professor in the Department of Engineering Management at Chongqing University, said that at present, new energy vehicles mainly rely on the after-sales service system of the whole vehicle factory for maintenance. However, as the ownership gradually increases and maintenance demand continues to rise, new energy vehicle manufacturers need to further expand service channels. The competent departments and relevant industry associations should plan ahead and guide new energy manufacturers to give more authorization and recognition to auto repair shops on the market, making vehicle maintenance convenient without "de-warranty", and facilitating the vast number of new energy vehicle owners.