In 2025, the new energy vehicle maintenance industry will face 80% of the talent vacancy.

N Xinhua News Agency reporter

Not long ago, Mr. Li, the owner of a new energy vehicle in Chengdu, found that the NFC car key could not open the door and could not start the vehicle. The staff of a local auto repair shop were all out and helpless. Finally, Mr. Li contacted the vehicle manufacturer to dispose of it remotely, and he was able to start the vehicle.

In recent years, the development of new energy vehicles in mainland China has entered the fast lane, but the problem of insufficient maintenance personnel has become increasingly prominent. According to the law of "the after-sales market lags behind by 5 years", the relatively concentrated maintenance period of new energy vehicles is coming. How to solve the repair problem? The journalist investigated.

Traditional auto repair shops are generally unable to repair, which makes it difficult and expensive to repair new energy vehicles

Jiao Haoran, the owner of the new energy vehicle in Baoji, Shaanxi, told reporters that there is only one local maintenance center for the brand he buys, and he has to queue up almost every time he goes for maintenance. "Once, it took more than half a month to fix the car."

In addition to the after-sales service system of new energy vehicle manufacturers, traditional auto repair shops scattered all over the streets and alleys are generally unable to repair new energy vehicles.

A new energy vehicle repairer needs to have at least two certificates: automobile maintenance worker certificate and electrician certificate. The person in charge of an auto repair shop in Nan'an District, Chongqing, told reporters that the store has 8 technicians, and only 1 technician holds an electrician certificate, and the store has not obtained the maintenance authorization of any new energy vehicle brand, and can only engage in basic business such as tire replacement, appearance modification, paint treatment or sheet metal maintenance.

Feng Chuan, the person in charge of another auto repair shop, said that only 8% to 10% of the vehicles maintained in the store are new energy vehicles. "We also want to expand the new energy auto repair business, but the car owners will not let us repair the core components of the 'three electrics', and we do not have the relevant capabilities." Feng Chuan said.

Not only is it difficult to repair a car, but it is also a pain point that it is expensive.

A car owner in Chongqing drives a new energy SUV priced at nearly 300,000 yuan every day, and recently spent 18,000 yuan to replace a taillight in a 4S store. Another car owner drove a range-extender SUV at the same price and replaced the oil filter in a 4S shop, which also cost more than 1,300 yuan - the maintenance project was only quoted at more than 600 yuan in a chain auto repair shop. "During the warranty period of the vehicle, if it is not repaired and maintained in the manufacturer's 4S shop, it will be 'out of warranty', so I can only accept this high price." The owner said.

Industry insiders pointed out that the expensive repair of new energy vehicles is related to the fact that the proportion of new energy vehicles in the market is still small and the market circulation accessories are few; On the other hand, there are few new energy vehicle maintenance stores with maintenance capabilities in the market, and the competition is insufficient.

In recent years, there have been frequent complaints about the maintenance of new energy vehicles, including unresolved faults, poor after-sales attitude, maintenance delays, and insufficient supply of spare parts.

In May 2023, the "Special Report on Automobile Complaints" released by the China Consumers Association showed that in terms of after-sales and supporting services for new energy vehicles, the main problems complained by consumers include: poor after-sales service experience such as repair and maintenance, including multiple repairs that still cannot be used normally; car repairs, over-maintenance or fraud; The transfer of 4S stores has caused damage to the rights and interests of consumers; After the collapse and delisting of car companies, there is no guarantee for the after-sales of consumer vehicles.

Why is there a shortage of maintenance personnel? There are three main reasons behind this

Relevant data show that there are hundreds of thousands of automobile maintenance-related enterprises in the mainland, including less than 20,000 new energy vehicle maintenance enterprises, and less than 100,000 skilled personnel are currently engaged in new energy vehicle maintenance.

The reporter learned that new energy vehicle owners often choose to repair and maintain their cars in the 4S shops or maintenance centers of vehicle manufacturers. The maintenance centers of new energy vehicle manufacturers mostly adopt a direct sales model, and one maintenance center serves multiple sales centers. The number of maintenance centers is relatively small, and the density of outlets is significantly lower than that of traditional automobile 4S shops, resulting in a long waiting time for some car owners to repair and maintain.

The reporter's investigation found that there are multiple reasons behind the shortage of new energy vehicle maintenance talents.

——There are professional barriers that hinder the transformation of technicians. According to the relevant person in charge of Tuhu car maintenance, compared with traditional fuel vehicles, new energy vehicles have a higher degree of digitalization, and there are significantly more electronic and communication failures. Taking the power battery as an example, due to the safety issues involved in the system such as high voltage, and the different internal structures and working principles of different products, it is difficult to maintain once a failure occurs.

"The knowledge of machinery is relatively concrete, but the knowledge of electricity and electronics is much more abstract, and the fault needs to be indirectly reflected through the detection of various equipment, and the learning threshold has been greatly improved." Cao Gefei, director of customer service at AVATAR, said that most of the technicians in traditional auto repair shops are mechanics, and their ability to learn the principles of electrification is insufficient.

Ran Qingbing is a new energy vehicle maintenance engineer at Tuhu Car Maintenance, and has been engaged in fuel vehicle maintenance work for nearly 20 years. In the first two years, he realized that the industry was about to change, and immediately made up his mind to transform, and finally mastered the relevant skills by attending training courses, online classes, self-study, etc. However, it is not easy for most people in the auto repair industry to overcome the above difficulties.

-- The training of vocational colleges is insufficient, and it cannot meet the market demand. At present, the demand for new energy vehicle repair and maintenance talents continues to rise. On the whole, the scale of talent training in vocational colleges is still insufficient.

Yang Hao, director of the automotive engineering department of Chongqing Industry and Trade Technician College, said that the school currently has a new energy vehicle maintenance major, with more than 400 graduates every year, and it is currently impossible to expand the scale of training. "In recent years, almost all of the students we train every year have signed contracts with major automakers before graduation." Yang Hao said that this also leads to the inability of new energy vehicle maintenance talents to sink to the majority of auto repair shops.

In the new energy auto repair training room of the Beibei District Vocational Education Center in Chongqing, the teacher is explaining the maintenance knowledge of new energy vehicles to students. Xinhua News Agency

New energy technologies continue to be "new", which also brings challenges to talent training. Yang Hao said frankly that new energy vehicles are accelerating towards intelligence and networking, and teachers feel that it is not easy to grasp cutting-edge technologies in time, and it is more difficult for students to learn.

——The core technology of the automaker is not open to the outside world, and the traditional auto repair shop will not repair it, and dare not repair it. Gao Lei, head of Chongqing Lishengxing Automobile Sales and Service Co., Ltd., told reporters that because the core technologies of the battery, motor and electronic control "three electrics" system of various new energy vehicle brands are not open to the outside world, it is difficult for traditional auto repair shops to obtain maintenance authorization from manufacturers. If the problem involves the failure of the "three electrics" system, traditional auto repair shops often do not repair it and dare not repair it.

Cracking: Accurately strengthen talent training and expand manufacturers' service channels

As of the end of June 2024, the number of new energy vehicles in the country has reached 24.72 million, and the maintenance of new energy vehicles is becoming a blue ocean market. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's "Manufacturing Talent Development Planning Guide", by 2025, the total number of talents for energy-saving and new energy vehicles is expected to reach 1.2 million, of which 80% of the talent vacancies in the field of new energy vehicle maintenance.

In response to the shortage of talents, various new energy auto repair training courses have sprung up, and a large number of traditional auto repair talents are transforming to learn and maintain new energy vehicles.

Relevant industry norms are also constantly improving. Last year, the China Automobile Maintenance and Maintenance Industry Association issued the group standards of "New Energy Vehicle Maintenance Vocational Skills Evaluation Specification" and "New Energy Vehicle Power Battery Inspection and Maintenance Specification"; Recently, the national standard "New Energy Vehicle Operation Safety Performance Inspection Regulations" was released and will be officially implemented on March 1, 2025.

In the future, how to better solve the problem of shortage of new energy vehicle maintenance talents?

Yang Hao said that relevant vocational colleges and technical colleges should speed up the opening of new energy vehicle maintenance majors and gradually expand the enrollment scale. In view of the rapid update and iteration of new energy vehicle technology, vocational colleges and technical colleges should also strengthen in-depth cooperation with enterprises in the automotive industry and strengthen the integration of industry and education.

At the same time, it will further promote the transformation of traditional auto repair technicians to new energy. Cao Gefei said that the current penetration rate of new energy vehicles continues to rise, traditional auto repair shops should be deployed in the field of new energy vehicle maintenance as soon as possible, and relevant industry associations can help introduce professional training courses, strengthen job transfer training and vocational training, and provide support for traditional auto repair technicians to "oil to electricity".

Lin Yun, an associate professor at the Department of Engineering Management at Chongqing University, said that with the gradual increase in ownership, the demand for maintenance continues to rise, and new energy vehicle manufacturers need to further expand service channels. The competent authorities and relevant industry associations should plan ahead and guide new energy manufacturers to give more authorization and recognition to auto repair shops on the market, so as to make vehicle maintenance convenient and not "out of warranty", so as to facilitate the majority of new energy vehicle owners.

Editor: Zhou Deqing