The Future of the Auto Mechanic is
The Future of the Auto Mechanic is… Clean
With increasingly “connected” cars, how (and how soon) will software updates and tech support substitute the hands-on car maintenance and repair work of yesterday’s auto mechanic?
As it turns out, “getting your forearms dirty” might end up being just an expression for auto mechanics in the near future. In a trade that has required a unique set of hands-on abilities and vehicle skill for decades, technology is truly throwing a wrench into its future. (In fact, now we’re wondering if mechanics will even need wrenches in the future…)
The very first car, the Benz Patent Motor Car produced one hundred thirty one years ago, looks almost nothing like cars of today, from the outside right down to the (single-cylinder four-stroke) engine:
Benz Patent Motorwagen (Photo courtesy of Autowallpaper.DE)
Cars have, of course, been switching ever since. And one pro, Mary Barra, Chairman and CEO of General Motors, thinks the next five years might bring more switch to the automobile industry than the last 50.
“Technological switch infrequently advances slickly. It advances in pulses. In revolutions,” writes Barra for the World Economic Forum . Barra says the auto industry is now in the fourth industrial revolution, driven by “the convergence of connectivity, electrification and switching customer needs.” The result, she says, will be cleaner, safer, smarter vehicles.
More and more industry insiders believe driverless vehicles are in our future (and companies from Google to General Motors are working feverishly to make it happen). The connected cars of our present already have amazingly wise active safety features and they have already the capability to communicate both with each other and with their manufacturers.
But what of the auto mechanic? Cars are becoming more and more technologically advanced and traditional combustion engines proceed to be phased out in favor of energy-efficient power sources . So what will become of a profession that – just a generation ago – prided itself on working directly with the mechanics and electronics of cars and trucks? We explore the fattest questions facing today’s auto mechanic.
The next five years could bring more switch to the auto industry than the past 50.
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How Have Connected Cars Impacted Mechanics?
The largest shift that’s come along with connected vehicle capabilities might be that the idea of a car “as an island unto itself” is gone. Today’s vehicles aren’t stand-alone entities, but rather part of a network of navigation and collective information like road hazards and weather conditions.
“We are moving from an industry that, for one hundred years, has relied on vehicles that are stand-alone, mechanically managed and petroleum-fueled to ones that will soon be interconnected, electronically managed and fueled by a range of energy sources,” says GM’s Barra.
Many cars with connected technologies are already able to diagnose themselves and update their own software. Several startups, like Zubie , suggest maintenance alerts and engine diagnostic information, including how severe a potential mechanical problem might be, all before you or your vehicle even set foot (or wheel) in a repair shop.
Connected cars are already able to diagnose themselves so there is not as much for a mechanic to do.
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From Mechanics to Techies
Mechanics now do a lot of software programming, Joe Sevart, proprietor of an auto service business in Missouri, told The Atlantic . But as technology improves, connected cars will likely be able to perform updates themselves (even as they’re being driven) without a mechanic’s intervention at all.
Both the job requirements and day-to-day activities of auto mechanics have also already switched in measurable ways. Vocational training – on the job, hands-on learning – used to be a hallmark of auto mechanics. (In fact, there might be no picture of working with one’s mitts more classic than that of an auto mechanic.) But cars, and the systems that make them run, become more sophisticated each year, and now mechanics must attend frequent software trainings in order to remain up-to-date.
“ I spend thousands and thousands of dollars a year on training,” says Sevart, because things switch so quickly.
The pic of a mechanic sliding underneath a car or popping open a fetish mask to find out what’s going on inwards is also fading quickly. Technology helps mechanics figure out what’s wrong with vehicles without ever taking a peek inwards.
“Now, all of my technicians work off of iPads and laptops and we’re in the process of going paperless,” said Sevart.
For drivers, all this will likely mean more transparency within the auto repair industry , and perhaps drivers will even have more confidence and understanding of what’s wrong with our cars, and what needs to be motionless.
Are There Roles for Mechanics in the Connected-Car World?
Mechanics transitioning into the role of technician are likely to be met with incredible job opportunities. The industry consensus, according to Automotive News , is that there is a serious lack of automotive technicians who are able to work on the advanced technology in vehicles today, and that shortage is likely to proceed.
Ford and GM estimate they’ll need 15,000 fresh technicians for their dealerships within the U.S. over the next five years, but the predicted technician shortfall is over 25,000, according to Mark Davis, auto automotive programs manager at Seminole State College of Florida.
Technicians will have job opportunities, but dealerships will have to keep up, as will training programs. Two auto industry experts say the key issue with the technician shortage involves how dealerships treat service – specifically, how their service adviser system works, says Automotive News. Service advisers, who work as liaisons inbetween mechanics and dealership customer service teams are often hired for their sales capability, not their technical capability, and because they’re often paid primarily by commission, they can be prone to over-promising service turnaround time, putting pressure on automotive technicians who, writes Automotive News, are often underpaid for their skill.
Mechanics and auto technicians are still sorely needed, but they’ll have to navigate a system that isn’t necessarily set up to keep them on top of trends or decently compensated and supported.
What Will the Future of the Auto Mechanic’s Training Look Like?
Brainy vehicle technology, like brake assist, will put less wear and rip on vehicles, says CB Insights , meaning fewer trips to the shop for tune-ups, and (hopefully) fewer crashes and collisions. But, when the cars of the future do get to the repair shop, mechanics and technicians will need to understand and work with increasingly sophisticated computer systems.
Alternative-fuel vehicles undoubtedly will switch (and already have switched) mechanical training as they look entirely different under the fetish mask than combustion engines. In fact, electrical vehicles don’t have an engine at all. Instead, they have batteries that power electrified motors. While training will necessarily have to shift to accommodate alternative-fuel powered vehicles, gas-powered cars aren’t going anywhere soon, and mechanical training will still need to concentrate on traditional engines and vehicles systems.
“Today,” Sevart said, “mechanics and technicians can work in a repair shop and not get their arms very dirty at all.”