IMR has released an update with new insight on its research on how battery and hybrid electric vehicle service is impacting independent repair shops.

Between June 1-30, IMR says it interviewed 500 independent repair shops in the U.S. to update its original findings from 2021 on trends relating to service exposure in independent repair shops to BEV and HEV vehicles.

Last year, IMR asked shops if they expected to see BEVs/HEVs impacting their business within the next 10 years – 55.1% answered yes. Now in 2022, 41.9% of shop owners expect that BEVs/HEVs will be impacting their business within the next two years. This is a significant change in mindset from the responses given in 2021.

As of 2022, 55% of independent repair shops indicate a portion of their business is from servicing battery electric vehicles, according to IMR. On average, 3.9% of total business is from BEVs and HEVs, making up about 5.9% of all shop business. Compared to 2021, shops are seeing a 0.8% increase in BEV and a 0.3% decrease in HEV service numbers.

IMR says larger shops with eight or more bays still report more BEV/HEV business (5.4% BEV, 7.7% HEV) than smaller shops with one to three bays (3% BEV, 4.3% HEV). In addition, smaller shops are engaging in less marketing of their service capabilities for BEVs/HEVs than larger shops, at 15.2%, compared to 43.2%.

With the ever-increasing amount of BEVs/HEVs on the road, only 27.5% of shops surveyed last year reported investing in tools/equipment to service BEVs/HEVs, says IMR.

Now, IMR says 42.4% have invested in the resources needed to service those vehicles. Similarly, 41.2% of shops invested in training for their technicians on BEV and HEV service/repair, compared to 30.5% last year.

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