Not long ago, Mr. Li, the owner of Chengdu new energy vehicle, found that the key of NFC vehicle could not open the door and start the vehicle. The staff of a local repair garage were also helpless. Finally, Mr. Li contacted the vehicle factory for remote disposal, so that the vehicle could be started.

In recent years, the development of new energy vehicles in China has entered a fast lane, but the problem of lack of maintenance personnel has become increasingly prominent. Many people lament that new energy vehicles are "easy to buy and difficult to repair".

According to the law of "the after-sales market lags five years", the relatively concentrated maintenance period of new energy vehicles is coming. How to solve maintenance problems? The reporter made an investigation.

Difficult and expensive to repair

Jiao Haoran, the owner of Shaanxi Baoji new energy vehicles, told reporters that there was only one local manufacturer's maintenance center of the brand he bought, and he had to queue up almost every time he went for maintenance. "Once, it took more than half a month to repair the car."

In addition to the after-sales service system of new energy vehicle manufacturers, traditional auto repair shops all over the streets are generally unable to repair new energy vehicles.

one person New energy vehicle maintenance At least two certificates of auto maintenance worker certificate and electrician certificate are required. The person in charge of an auto repair shop in Nan'an District of Chongqing told reporters that there were 8 technicians in the shop, and only one technician held an electrician certificate, and the shop did not obtain the maintenance authorization of any new energy vehicle brand, New energy vehicle charging pile Only engaged in basic businesses such as tire replacement, appearance modification, paint treatment or sheet metal repair.

Feng Chuan, the head of another auto repair shop, said that only 8% to 10% of the vehicles repaired in the shop are new energy vehicles. "We also want to expand the new energy auto repair business, but the car owners will not let us repair the 'three electricity' core components, and we do not have the relevant ability," said Feng Chuan.

Not only is it difficult to repair the car, but the expensive repair is also a pain point.

An owner in Chongqing drives a new energy SUV with a price of nearly 300000 yuan every day, and recently spent 18000 yuan to replace a taillight at the 4S store. Another owner opened an extended SUV at the same price and replaced the engine oil filter at the 4S shop, which also cost more than 1300 yuan - the price of this maintenance item at the chain repair garage was only 600 yuan. "During the warranty period, if the vehicle is not repaired and maintained at the manufacturer's 4S store, it will be 'out of warranty'. So I can only accept this high price," said the owner. Industry insiders pointed out that new energy vehicles are expensive to repair. On the one hand, it is related to the small proportion of new energy vehicles in the market and the small number of market circulating accessories; On the other hand, there are few new energy vehicle maintenance stores with maintenance ability in the market, and the competition is insufficient.

In recent years, new energy vehicle maintenance complaints have occurred frequently, including unresolved faults, poor after-sales attitude, delayed maintenance, insufficient supply of spare parts, etc.

In May 2023, the Special Report on Auto Complaints issued by the China Consumer Association shows that in terms of after-sales and supporting services for new energy vehicles, the problems that consumers complain about in a centralized way mainly include: poor after-sales service experience such as repair and maintenance, including repeated repairs that still cannot be used normally; Excessive maintenance or fraud of vehicle maintenance; The transfer of the 4S store has damaged the rights and interests of consumers; After the closure and delisting of automobile enterprises, the after-sales service of consumers' vehicles is not guaranteed.

Why is there a shortage of maintenance personnel?

Relevant data shows that there are hundreds of thousands of automobile maintenance related enterprises in China, including less than 20000 new energy vehicle maintenance enterprises. At present, there are less than 100000 technicians engaged in new energy vehicle maintenance.

The reporter learned that new energy vehicle owners often choose to repair and maintain their vehicles in the 4S shop or maintenance center of the vehicle manufacturer. The maintenance centers of new energy vehicle manufacturers mostly adopt the direct marketing mode, and one maintenance center serves multiple sales centers. The number of maintenance centers is relatively small, and the density of outlets is significantly lower than that of traditional car 4S stores, resulting in long waiting times for some car owners to repair and maintain.

——Barriers exist in the profession, blocking the transformation of technicians. The person in charge of Tuhoo car maintenance introduced that compared with traditional fuel vehicles, new energy vehicles have a higher degree of digitalization, and there are obviously more electronic and communication failures. Taking the power battery as an example, as the system involves high voltage and other safety issues, and different products have different internal structures and working principles, once a failure occurs, it is difficult to maintain.

"Mechanical knowledge is relatively concrete, but electrical and electronic knowledge is much more abstract. Faults can be reflected indirectly through various equipment tests, and the learning threshold has been greatly improved." Cao Gefei, director of Avita user service, said that most technicians in traditional repair garages are machine repair masters, and their ability to learn electrification principles is insufficient.

Ran Qingbing is a new energy vehicle maintenance technician of Tuhu, who has been engaged in fuel vehicle maintenance for nearly 20 years. Two years ago, he realized that the industry was about to change, and then decided to transform. He finally mastered relevant skills through attending training classes, online classes, self-study, etc. However, it is not easy for most practitioners in the auto repair industry to overcome the above difficulties.

Photo source: Visual China - vocational colleges are not sufficiently trained to meet market demand. Electric vehicle charging pile At present, the demand for new energy vehicle repair and maintenance talents continues to rise. On the whole, the scale of talent training in vocational colleges is still insufficient.

Yang Hao, director of the Automotive Engineering Department of Chongqing Institute of Industry and Trade Technicians, said that at present, the school has a new energy vehicle maintenance specialty, with more than 400 graduates every year, and it is unable to expand the training scale at present. "In recent years, almost all of the students we train every year signed contracts with major vehicle manufacturers before graduation." Yang Hao said, which also led to the inability of new energy vehicle maintenance talents to sink into the vast number of auto repair stores.

New energy technology continues to "update", which also brings challenges to talent cultivation. Yang Hao said frankly that new energy vehicles are accelerating towards intelligence and networking. Teachers feel it is difficult to master cutting-edge technologies in time, and students are more difficult to learn.

——The core technology of the whole vehicle factory is not open to the public, and the traditional repair shop can't repair it. Gao Lei, the person in charge of Chongqing Lishenghang Automobile Sales Service Co., Ltd., told reporters that because the core technologies of battery, motor and electronic control "three electricity" systems of various new energy vehicle brands were not open to the public, it was difficult for traditional repair garages to obtain the manufacturer's maintenance authorization. If the problem involves the "three electricity" system fault, traditional repair garages often do not repair it and dare not repair it.

Precisely strengthen talent training and expand service channels of manufacturers

By the end of June 2024, the number of new energy vehicles in China has reached 24.72 million, and new energy vehicle maintenance is becoming a blue ocean market.

In view of the talent shortage, various new energy vehicle auto repair training classes have sprung up, and a large number of traditional auto repair talents