Bowman Chevy services a lot of EVs. It's not simple

DETROIT — It takes three hoists to replace an electric vehicle battery at Bowman Chevrolet.

One hoist holds the car, another holds the new battery, and the third holds the old battery once the service technician removes it.

EV repairs can be as complicated as a battery replacement or as innocuous as a software update, Mat Kostrzewa, Bowman Chevy's service manager, told Automotive News on the service drive bustling with everything from sports cars to pickups.

Preparing for all possible fixes means regularly updating training and investing in new equipment.

"EVs have been out for a while, but there are constant changes to them," he said. "It is a constant, evolving, growing industry."

Not all dealership service leaders are as accepting: A 2023 report from CDK Global found less than half of the executives and fixed operations leaders surveyed felt positive about integrating EV service into their shops.

At Bowman Chevy in Clarkston, Mich., EVs make up roughly 10 percent of new- and used-vehicle sales. The store has three master certified EV technicians — with two more in training — and repairs two to seven EVs a week.

To service a growing EV customer base, the dealership has four hoists capable of lifting 12,000 pounds — which cost about $15,000 apiece — to lift EVs powered by heavy batteries. The store also restructured the electrical wiring to accommodate chargers and bought special fire extinguishers for batteries.

"It has also required a lot of extra tooling and equipment to do the repairs on the vehicles because they are very unique," Kostrzewa said.

As EV volume grows, flexibility is needed to keep up with the changes, he said. Service center upgrades for EV repairs cost tens of thousands of dollars. Hiring technicians is already a challenge industrywide, and finding EV specialists is even more difficult.

EV repairs vary widely week to week or even job to job, Kostrzewa said.

For example, a recall on early Chevy Bolt batteries once brought a wave of repairs to the store. The service center did so many battery replacements that at times, it had stacks four high and 10 deep, Kostrzewa said.

Even battery replacements can be vastly different projects depending on the vehicle. It takes about three hours to replace the battery in a Chevrolet Bolt at Bowman Chevy, he said, but it could take an entire day to replace the battery in larger models such as the GMC Hummer or Chevy Silverado EVs.

There are numerous safety protocols, too, Kostrzewa said. For instance, the service center designated an area of the parking lot away from the building and other vehicles in case it needed to store a compromised battery.

The one constant is change, Kostrzewa said. And the evolving world of EV repairs and safety means there is no end to technician training.

"The biggest advice I would give is: Keep an open mind," he said. "Stay very active with the training so that you are well versed to work on the different technologies as they come along."