The independent garage that shapes the UK electric vehicle repair network

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This situation inspired him to form the Alliance for the Repair of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (Hevra) in 2017. “Run by electric vehicle drivers for electric vehicle drivers,” proclaims its website. It sounds like a simple marketing slogan except that Hevra is truly a bunch of electric vehicle enthusiasts who pool their knowledge for the benefit of members and customers.

If Hevra doesn’t have the answer to an EV problem, he’ll send one of his engineers to the struggling garage to help find it.

“I’m delighted to be called with a new issue,” says Gary Clayton, Hevra support specialist and former IT professional. I met him – one of 160 Hevra members – at Good Guys to learn more about how the organization works. “We collect information about breakdowns from member garages and, combining it with our diagnostic skills, we help them quickly identify the root of EV problems,” he sums up carefully.

Error codes and their correct interpretation is a major problem. He remembers a Renault Zoe that didn’t want to start or load, which he picked up from a main dealership. “The car was displaying an error code that seemed to indicate the engine controller was involved,” he says. “The main dealer’s workshop offered the customer £ 3,500 to fix it. We discovered that the problem was simply a cracked main fuse.

Another error code encountered by Hevra members is “high voltage insulation loss”. This suggests that there is a current leak between the battery and the chassis, but even so, it shocks many technicians. “The only solution is to put on insulating gloves, grab an insulation resistance tester and look for the leak,” says Clayton. “In fact, the air conditioning compressor is often to blame. Hevra members pride themselves on not only diagnosing faults quickly, but also repairing rather than replacing faulty parts. To this end, and because individual parts for electric vehicles are so hard to find (for example, no manufacturer yet provides individual battery cells, which means that the entire battery has to be purchased at a cost considerable), many keep one or two EVs to break for spare parts. In fact, Good Guys is one of the UK’s largest sources of used parts for the Nissan Leaf.

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