Ottawa, Ontario — With automakers the world over announcing wide-scale conversions of their fleets to battery-electric vehicles (EVs) and telematics systems becoming nearly commonplace, the collision repair industry is no longer simply on the verge of a technological revolution—we’re in the midst of it.
That is why Collision Repair took the time to conduct a phone interview with Andrew Shepherd, executive director of I-CAR Canada, to discuss this fundamental shift in automotive technology and how Canada’s educators are responding to meet these new demands.
I-CAR has begun offering a new series of courses focused on emerging technologies, like ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems) and EVs, in the effort to better prepare Canada’s techs-in-training for what is shaping up to be a new form of automobile altogether.
“These are a new couple of courses in a long series of new courses focused on new technology, in particular on ADAS and EVs, offered as a group. They are not required as any foundation, but they are produced as quickly as I-Car can get the information from the OEs,” said Shepherd.
“They’re 30 minutes long; very focused. They have a quiz at the end, and they deal with how to treat an electric vehicle as soon as it comes into the shop. Before even touching it, assessing it for external damage, dripping fluids, things like that, because the voltage of the battery is so high that there has to be an understanding of how to deal with this right from the start.”
Educators across the collision industry are aware of the shifting tides showing a new customer tendency towards battery-electric options, and I-CAR is hoping to meet students right on the frontline of this developing technology, as it is made available, to help propel Canada’s auto industry forward onto the world stage.
“We’ve seen a fair number of the OEs announce a total conversion to electric vehicles over the next ten years, and as always in the collision sector, even the first instance of a new technology can be on a collision shop’s doorstep the day after it’s released,” said Shepherd.
“Either shops have to give up that business and pass on it and say we can’t do it, or they have to get the learning in place to do it.”
According to Shepherd, among the many unknowns surrounding EVs and their developing repair processes, establishing adequate safety protocols across the board should be the top priority for educators bringing new techs into the industry.
“There are a lot of things about damage analysis and repair that have to be learned, but the first thing is safety. Because of the high-voltages of the batteries, these shops absolutely need to know how to even approach the vehicle, before they decide to take the job on,” said Shepherd.
