The triumph of electric cars seems unstoppable on the occasion of the latest developments in the energy market. The number of registered electric vehicles more than doubled from 2021 to April 1, 2022, to around 687,200 - after comparatively little movement in the years before. And that's not even counting plug-in hybrids (population on April 1, 2022: approximately 623,000)! So it's virtually guaranteed that one of these examples or its owners will sooner or later turn up in your garage.
According to a survey by ecomento.de, 64 percent of workshops plan to invest in hardware such as tools and equipment and/or training over the next five years. The majority of independent workshops even plan to make these investments in the next 12 months.
Such new services like health diagnostics, quality, lifespan, and maintenance prediction of batteries are becoming more and more important for your garage, too!
MAHLE will support you in this area in the future with a new generation of service equipment: Because new challenges always mean new opportunities for more significant differentiation from the competition - and, of course, for more sales.
Battery diagnostics are necessary to maintain and repair electric vehicles and determine the residual value. For example, a reliable diagnosis of the drive battery can be decisive for purchasing a used electric vehicle. Although price levels are slowly falling, there are still many people who would prefer to buy used BEVs. Even early adopters of the e-mobility trend often shy away from the high prices of new cars.
However, this begs the question: is the battery healthy? Has it regularly been charged to 100 percent? Has it often been charged at fast-charging stations, where high power and short waiting times are tempting? All this is essential information because complete and fast charging has negative effects on battery health!
So anyone who wants to buy an "e-used" would like to know how fit the traction battery - the most expensive and delicate element of the vehicle - still is. Its "health" is one of the most important purchase criteria. The battery diagnosis can provide clarity here.
But it also creates transparency and clarity for the owners of an electric car. There is only one small catch: The actual state of the drive batteries can only be determined with complex diagnostic equipment!
The new battery diagnostics function was uploaded to the MAHLE and Brain Bee TechPRO® diagnostic devices in the workshops with the rule update in spring 2022 and is available free of charge.
MAHLE TechPRO® detects all existing error codes in an average of 30 seconds. The Linux-based system communicates with all modules installed in the vehicle and reports over 54,000 detailed OEM error code descriptions. It stores the data logs locally so they can be reviewed at a later time, if needed, without having to reconnect to the vehicle. At the same time, the robust touchscreen enables simple and intuitive operation of the diagnostic system - from the current vehicle status to guided troubleshooting and the corresponding component coding. Thanks to integrated Wi-Fi, regular software updates are carried out independently via the Internet: TechPRO® is simply always up to date - even when it comes to battery diagnostics.
As part of the further expansion of the diagnostic functionality, however, MAHLE Aftermarket will develop suitable license models for its customers in the future. With this step, MAHLE is opening up new, future-proof business areas for you beyond the combustion engine.
The new service concept for BEVs will be called BatteryPRO and will gradually be comprehensively expanded. It includes the modules E-SCAN, E-HEALTH, and finally E-CARE. With E-SCAN, Mahle is not yet claiming to provide a complete battery diagnosis, including a statement on the battery health. In the next step, however, E-SCAN will be supported by E-HEALTH paving the way to providing full coverage of battery data to workshops and users.
MAHLE is convinced that the future of independent workshops lies in the field of battery diagnosis and repair - and it is the clear goal to be able to offer you a broad portfolio of battery services in the future.
This includes, for example, battery temperature control, fluid management and everything to do with charging and discharging. A solution that can be operated simply at the touch of a button is planned for this!
At the end of the year, MAHLE will ignite the next service stage and, together with the Dresden-based battery diagnostics company volytica diagnostics and TÜV NORD Mobilität, will offer an expanded solution for rapid battery diagnostics and thus a new test solution for electric vehicles.