July/August 2021

E lectric cars eh? The one thing I know is not to lick my fingers before I get to work on one. Well, I know a little bit more than that. We’ve had a dedicated EV and hybrid bay here at Parkit Motors for a little while now. I think I mentioned it before. It’s all orange, all safe, we take the keys to the other end of the building and put them in a little lead-lined box. If Superman himself turned up, and we had Kryptonite in that box, he could pick up his car and be none the wiser. Did I mention our charging point outside too? Some people are surprised about how forward-looking we are as a business; “Especially with Arthur in charge” someone here just said as I type this while speaking aloud…Hey! I’ll be having words with you in a minute, once I work out who it was that said it. They’ve all scurried off back to the workshop. Innocent faces all around. Anyway, as I was saying, it is a bit of a talking point among the garages in the town. Honestly, they are worse than a sewing circle when they get going with the gossip. Being mechanics as well, they’re not subtle about it either. One of them came down a couple of weeks back, ostensibly to discuss a diagnostic conundrum, but really it turned out to see if I actually had anything in my special bay, and I did as a matter of fact, a nice little Nissan Leaf. “Ooh Arthur” he said, “I heard about your special area, and I wanted to get a good look at it…” Saucy of him I thought, but who am I to object? This lot chattering might actually lead to more business. It’s not like all of them are going to be doing it, but I might be wrong. My compatriot seemed to be taking his time, and I think he took a photo or two with his phone. It was only when Mrs P yelled something about COVID-19 restrictions that I managed to get him out. The reason I know how gossipy the garage guys are around here is because I am the worst one. This meant I was straight on the phone, to see what I could find out down the grapevine. It turns out he may be considering a similar move. Good on him, I say. It’s a smart play, after all, I did it myself didn’t I? The fact that other businesses in the area look like they are going the same way as I did is great. It means I was on the right track in the first place. With the government’s plan to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, businesses that want to remain in businesses need to be heading this way. I’ve got one or two regulars with EVs and hybrids and this is slowly increasing. Of course, going forward it would increase faster if the other garages in town were not nipping at my coat-tails. One way of looking at it would be that we are all in it together to assure the forward momentum of our industry. The cynic in me looks at my early lead, and how it is being chipped away and I ask myself; “with ‘friends’ like these, who needs enemies?” I shouldn’t be so negative though, competition is great, so long as I win. ARE ‘FRIENDS’ ELECTRIC? 66 AFTERMARKET JULY/AUGUST 2021 TEABREAK: MEMOIRS OF A MOTOR MECHANIC www.aftermarketonline.net Safety Deadlines Charging !!#*BZZZ!!!! Gossip EVs