With a little attention to the needs of your alternative powertrain vehicle, you can enjoy driving your car freely and without worries for many years to come. What do you need to know about electric car maintenance? How is the construction of an alternative powertrain vehicle different from that of an internal combustion engine?
Due to their operating principle, the maintenance of electric vehicles requires special expertise and different work processes with regard to the drivetrain compared to their counterparts equipped with an internal combustion engine. In addition, separate diagnostic equipment and tools for these vehicles ensure proper maintenance and repair, which is professionally carried out by the specialists of OEM service shops.
The key to long-term usability
The most important component of electric vehicles is the battery, which can be checked regularly to ensure that it is working properly throughout the vehicle's life cycle. During inspection of the battery, the temperature control system and the battery cells are checked and the coolant is changed if necessary. As the high-voltage battery can only be maintained with a special certificate, the work of OEM repair shops is essential.
Use of the most suitable parts
Thanks to rapidly evolving technologies, more and more advanced vehicles serve the users. It is therefore essential that state-of-the-art components specifically developed for the model are installed when maintaining electric vehicles.
Air conditioning inspection, filter replacement
Electric cars are equipped with the most modern air conditioning systems available: activated carbon or even a bionic air filter systems. The activated carbon filter also keeps pollens, fungal spores and hazardous gases out. If you also want to prevent bacteria from entering the passenger compartment, you may want to choose a bionic filter system.
Wheel change
The wheels and tires of your electric vehicle also have special properties. The wheels are designed to have the lowest drag coefficient and there are also some tires that are specifically designed for lower rolling resistance. All this is to achieve the most efficient consumption.
Brake check
By using the regenerative braking system, the car’s brakes can always be in perfect shape. However, for safety reasons, have your brake system checked regularly and, if necessary, the brake pads and brake discs replaced.
Electric vehicle service topics
Today’s electric vehicles have special needs for maintenance and repair. That is why it is important to have a high level of training and preparation of the service staff working in the OEM service, which will serve to improve your vehicle to the highest standard.
What maintenance does an electric car require?
Given that fewer parts of their electric cars are subject to wear and tear than a car equipped with an internal combustion engine, the risk of failure is also lower. In addition, there is no need to change the oil in the vehicle, so maintenance costs can be significantly lower than for an average car.
- Key parts that may need maintenance:
• Battery
With optimal charging habits, the battery really rarely requires maintenance. Over many years, the battery may lose its efficiency and need to be replaced, however, this efficiency loss is only a few percent and the minimum battery life is 10 years on average. Long-term, worry-free use can be achieved by inspecting the battery and possibly changing the coolant.
• Brake discs and brake pads
Thanks to the regenerative braking system, the braking system of electric vehicles requires roughly half as much care as a conventional vehicle. The components of the brake system are inspected and replaced as necessary during regular maintenance.
• Chassis
As with their counterparts with internal combustion engines, the steering, connectors and rubber bells of electric cars are inspected during regular maintenance at regular intervals.
• Liquids
The user only needs to change the windscreen washer fluid. In addition, electric cars only have coolant and brake fluid, as the fluid level is checked by service personnel during regular maintenance and replaced if necessary.
• Passenger compartment air filter
For the cleanest air, the air filter needs to be replaced every 30,000 kilometers or every two years.
2. Frequency of maintenance
It largely depends on the model and its mileage, but is typically 1 year or 15.000 km. The vehicle notifies the user in case it requires maintenance.
3. Do I have to take my electric car to a special service center for maintenance?
OEM repair shops have the necessary certifications and tools to service the types of vehicles they sell. Special work processes, such as battery condition assessment, are performed by specially qualified service personnel.
4. Charging cable specialties
During maintenance, it is advisable to have the charging cable inspected by a service technician who will make sure that the insulation is undamaged and if the charging cable is in good condition.
5. Will I need a special tire?
Although the electric car can be fitted with any tire that meets the car's technical parameters (size, load capacity, etc.), they usually offer special tires with optimal rolling resistance. Lower rolling resistance results in better efficiency, so you can cover longer distances with a single charge.
6. How to achieve longer battery life?
In order for the battery to last the longest time in the vehicle, the following should be considered:
- Optimally, do not charge for 100%. Although, this results in a shorter range, but longer battery life. Another advantage of this practice is that there is always enough capacity to store the energy recovered during regenerative braking: when the battery is full, the system usually pauses the brake energy recovery to prevent the batteries from overheating.
- Avoid completely draining the battery. In addition to the inconvenience of completely draining the car battery during our trip, lithium-ion batteries prefer partial to full deplete.
- Avoid extreme temperature conditions. We can also contribute to increasing the battery life of our car with such small things, like if we prefer shady places in summer and try to keep the car indoors in winter.
Our article was prepared in cooperation with Hyundai Holding Hungary Kft.
Balázs Csatár - ALD Key Account Manager I EV Ambassador