Salt Spring Island is in need of electric vehicle repairers

By Elizabeth Sargeant

Toronto, Ontario – May 31, 2019 — Sitting between Vancouver Island and British Columbia’s mainland, Salt Spring Island is home to about 10,000 people and the highest density of electric vehicles in Canada.

With one EV for every 100 Salt Springers, the island is home to four times as many EVs as PEI, despite being home to a 10th of its population.

The even more mysterious bit about this EV dense population is that the repair shops seem to have no experience dealing with them.

“We’ve never dealt with them,” said Richard Murakami, owner of Murakami’s Collision. “The only time I’ve ever dealt with an electric car is to get a dent out of the door”.

Murakami is approaching his 80th birthday and has been in the collision repair industry in Salt Spring “forever.” And despite the several collision repair shops found online claiming to be located in Salt Spring, Murakami says there’s only two operating, and both shops are unfamiliar with the mechanics of an EV.

“Most people with electric cars here take them to Victoria or Duncan to get them fixed. That’s mostly where they get them from,” said Murakami.

Despite EV certifications allowing shops to draw in business from places like Salt Spring, not every auto repairer feels the potential benefits outweigh the costs.

According to one Duncan repairer, Josh Macadam, owner of Aurora Auto, his own investment in EV repair training has yet to pay off.

“It’s a very big endeavor for a private shop to take on those kinds of jobs because of the expense of the equipment they are required to use,” said Macadam.

“You’re looking at tens of thousands of dollars just for diagnostic equipment.”

A standard trip from Salt Spring to Victoria is 25 minutes by Ferry, but a full hour and a half by car. The options are limited, but EV drivers still persist.

“Well, I don’t blame them,” said Murakami. “People will do anything for their car. And an electric car? Wooo you just plug it in and away you go.”