Aftermarket February 2023

54 AFTERMARKET FEBRUARY 2023 ON THE ROAD www.aftermarketonline.net after Brexit, as the UK follows BER and Type Approval legislation. “BER is up for renewal, but it is competition law, and that is hard to challenge if you are talking about a a vehicle manufacturer. The Commission realised, with the Type Approval giving access to repair and maintenance information (RMI). That is the political intent. What comes after is the secondary legislation, which defines the how. The secondary legislation is vitally important. When it comes to a non-conformance, you can do it via the Type Approval rules. It is cheaper and easier than doing it through a court.” Neil continued: “MV BER covers non-discrimination between workshops and access to OEM and Tier 1 parts. Vehicle Type Approval regs addresses RMI, and the detailed tech requirements, but it is not yet clear how these requirements will be covered by UK legislation. The UK needs to catch up, but they are a bit busy at the moment. Why is this important? We are all here to provide competitive choices to the customer. That is what needs protecting. Classically this is considered to be on a workshop versus workshop basis, but this is changing. Changes to technological progress have yet to be addressed in detail in legislation. Access to the vehicle’s data has been changing, and that is controlled by the VMs. What is changing is that the VM has directly as well as indirectly entered the aftermarket as a service provider. i.e. BMW sending over-the- air instructions to turn on the heated seats etc. What they are doing is embedding this in the car, and accessing it, but not through the OBD. They are using this data, and keeping the aftermarket tied to the OBD when the vehicle is in the workshop, and that is not fair competition. The way that vehicle data is accessed and used has fundamentally changed, and Vehicle Type Approval has changed. “The VM is now the administrator. Also, the car is no longer a way to move you from A to B, it is a series of services. The decision of what can be accessed, by whom and for what is under their control, and the OBD connector is becoming superfluous. It does not support high speed data, and they are not interested in that, they are interested in high speed telematics. The Commission is aware of this, the UK government less so. This leads to lower operating costs for the automotive workshop, but we need to access this. Mobility as a Service changes the marketplace. This is a significant shift in vehicle ownership, and the VMs are entering the market in a big way. Cybersecurity is now a Vehicle Type approval requirement. The VM will now develop their own cybersecurity management session unique to themselves. The fundamental question is who will control what the various vehicle interfaces support? Cybersecurity now requires a certificate. For the aftermarket to remain competitive, legislation must define what is reasonable and proportionate.” Neil rounded up with a summary of how UK AFCAR is working to make sure the aftermarket continues to be able to function as it has become used to doing so, including the importance of offering up evidence of where VMs are not making RMI to the sector.” Transition With a jolt, Neil was off the stage, and on came Matt Cleevely from Cleevely EV, who was covering how the aftermarket can embrace the opportunities as the EV transition takes place. Matt began by talking about his own passion for EVs and renewable energy, including having solar panels on the roof at home, taking in the horrendous experience he had trying to buy an EV at all from a franchised dealer. He went on to talk about how he originally set up a second EV-specific site on industrial estate, separate and different in scale from the traditional town centre garage his family had operated from for many years. On how this new side to the business grew, he noted how TESLA owners looking for MOTs as their cars go to three years old was a major driver. This was a steep learning curve for Matt, which led to the EV business relocating to a new 12,000 square foot site. The new facility includes an indoor sales centre that doubles as an education centre. “This is helping technicians to develop themselves,” said Matt, who explained how he goes to events with EV owners groups to get those owners through the door, and how he does everything with the support of HEVRA Network. “What have I learned in the last five years?” mused Matt. “Cars are cars, and they have steering, suspension and brakes etc. We are seeing that they break and need fixing. Many garages are scared of them, but it is still just working on a car. Some of them are high voltage jobs, but taking out the batteries is still in the minority. We are having to backwards- engineer and find these components. A lot of these jobs were brought to us from main dealers as they are not moving forward fast enough with the technology, or they do not have the trained technicians. It is interesting times, and it is going to be difficult for everyone.” While the overall market has supply issues, for EVs the parts situation can be more acute, which is why the company has been importing its own Tesla parts from Denmark, holding between £60,000-£70,000 worth of spares on site at all times. “Steering and suspension are the quickest moving, “he observed. Above: Julia Muir