Is anyone else afraid?

[Father Of Giants]

Electric cars will soon take over, that means hundreds of thousands of technicians and mechanics will be laid of.

I was reading some articles on electric car cost of operation and it's next to nothing. Even worse, I feel as though everything I'm studying at this moment is about the internal combustion engine might be a waste in about 10 or 15 years. Fuel trim, O2 monitoring, injector duty cycles, spark waveforms, injector waveforms etc.

Even in Europe, heavy equipment is moving towards electric and some of these machines can run for 7 hours on a charge.


The only field to look forward too is marine diesel since the electric technology has a long way to go for that industry. In short my end game has changed.

[Diseasel300]

Electric cars still use similar body electronics and mechanical suspensions as ICE powered cars, the only thing really going away is the ICE and the transmission/driveline. Battery powered cars are only a stop-gap solution anyway, the end result is likely to be electric, but it won't be batteries powering it. I, for one, am interested to see what the future holds.

[tjts1]

Originally Posted by Father Of Giants

Electric cars will soon take over, that means hundreds of thousands of technicians and mechanics will be laid of.

I was reading some articles on electric car cost of operation and it's next to nothing. Even worse, I feel as though everything I'm studying at this moment is about the internal combustion engine might be a waste in about 10 or 15 years. Fuel trim, O2 monitoring, injector duty cycles, spark waveforms, injector waveforms etc.

Even in Europe, heavy equipment is moving towards electric and some of these machines can run for 7 hours on a charge.


The only field to look forward too is marine diesel since the electric technology has a long way to go for that industry. In short my end game has changed.

The writing is on the wall. Better learn some new skills ASAP.

Originally Posted by Diseasel300

Battery powered cars are only a stop-gap solution anyway, the end result is likely to be electric, but it won't be batteries powering it. I, for one, am interested to see what the future holds.

LOL yeah just keep telling yourself that.

[Father Of Giants]

Originally Posted by tjts1

The writing is on the wall. Better learn some new skills ASAP.

LOL yeah just keep telling yourself that.

Time to be an electrician it looks like. Maybe HVAC.

[Squiggle Dog]

In my opinion, simple is good. I do admire the mechanical parts of the old diesel Mercedes, though, and enjoy the sound of the engine. I also like that I can drive my diesel as long as I want as long as I put fuel in the tank. Charging an electric car can take a while, but at some point charging an electric car might not take much longer than filling a tank with fuel.

I also like that electric cars are zero emissions, though the emissions from the facility that produces the electricity has to be considered, and also battery production and disposal. I'm not a fan of hybrid cars... pick a mood and stick with it. Haha.

I like that in theory an electric car is pretty much just a motor, battery, and brakes on wheels. SO many less parts to go wrong. But then any new car will have SO many gadgets that will still make them problematic anyway. And I really wish they would make new cars with the same vintage style with which they used to build cars. There isn't a single car built in recent times that I would ever consider owning based on the fact that I don't think any of them have very good styling (and they have too many parts).

[barry12345]

Originally Posted by Father Of Giants

Time to be an electrician it looks like. Maybe HVAC.

You live in north America. For a slew of reasons. The arrival of the electric car in quantity will probably be late here. My guess is we will be the last developed area of the world to really see them in high numbers. They are likely to be highly electronic in nature and even use heat pumps for heat and air conditioning.

When the arrive in numbers yes there will be changes. I still visualise a lot of service will be needed. The internal combustion engine will not likely phase out totally for a long time either. Anyways as soon as certified in whatever course of action you decide on.

Not all people can run their own business. Yet that is a direction to seek. It takes some fortitude and more learning. Yet to me having control of your own working destiny was important. Some people just are more cut out for doing it it than others.

The Chinese especially have been working on ways to get more energy density into batteries. The technology is still based on lithium so far. This is a semi dangerous technology. If a battery shorts internally the whole pack can ignite in a violent self sustaining eruption. There will be people incinerated in electric cars over time. It results in a self sustaining manner so technically you should not keep an electric vehicle in a garage attached to your house. Unless that garage is really fireproofed well beyond todays code requirements. With a sprinkler system to stop the spread of the car burning.

The future promise for alternate powered vehicles is very much dependent on man's eventual understanding of science. There exists energy sources that nobody really understands still. Other than the full awareness currently that they exist. Personally I find this odd that the knowledge of them is well proven. Still nobody yet has been able to determine how they function. My guess is Russia is intent on research in these areas. Where China is advancing so fast in artificial intelligence development. America has asked them to stop.

So if the discovery of what these unknown energy fprces are occurs. They may prove useful or not depending on a lot of factors. Remember from a historical perspective the electron always existed. Look how long man existed before it was well enough understood to work with it. In less than 100 years it has become a really signifigant item of continuous development. In applying it.


I was an electronic tech and the changes alone in my career where nothing less than mind boggling. I only worked in the field for about twenty five years. Just got tired of it and moved on to other fields.

[vstech]

Originally Posted by Father Of Giants

Time to be an electrician it looks like. Maybe HVAC.

Need any tips, let me know...

Since I'm licensed in both fields to the highest level...

[Father Of Giants]

Originally Posted by vstech

Need any tips, let me know...

Since I'm licensed in both fields to the highest level...

If you had to pick or recommend one uut of the two, which would you recommend?

Originally Posted by Mxfrank

Take up computer programming. I'll lend you my Fortran manual.

This sounds like the way of the future, cars will soon become extraordinarily complex computers on wheels.


I'm up for learning programming.

[barry12345]

Cost of enough tools to work effectively has and is getting even more expensive with time. In the mechanic trade to me is a downside.

Also in far too many cases the industry itself has issues. A local GM dealers mechanics went on strike. The law here in this Canadian province was they should get a certain percentage of the hourly rate.

They were not and this had to be pushed by the employees. I remember the case well as it occurred at the time that ownership of a GM franchise was considered almost a license to steal.

Anyways the modern car is complex enough that a specialty shop to me is a way to go for many reasons. Number one is you have a far better control over your parts costs. So you absorb far better margins on your parts inventory. Allowing you to charge a lower hourly rate. You should still come out far ahead financially than the shop trying to do everything.

[vstech]

Originally Posted by Father Of Giants

If you had to pick or recommend one uut of the two, which would you recommend?


I'm up for learning programming.

Tough call... electrician work is very repetitive, the tough stuff is dealing with old plaster walls...
Or apartment buildings, where everything is mapped out by the architect...

HVAC is more rewarding, dealing with customers needing comfort solutions.

[97 SL320]

I put that at this bottom but will also post at the top so it does not get glossed over.

In the end you need a skill set that is interchangeable across many fields. Having a good foundation in electronics / electrical / pnuematics / hydraulics / mechanical systems will accomplish that.

Originally Posted by Father Of Giants

Time to be an electrician it looks like. Maybe HVAC.

If you work for a company that touts " Furnace inspection $ 20 " / " Same day service or you don't pay " / " 20 outlets- switches for $ 20 " , you can be assured that you will be pushed into selling marginally needed services.

If you do go down the path of electrician / HVAC , try to lean towards the commercial end of things. If you do residential repairs, you will be educating every customer you come across where as commercial customers generally understand what is going on.

You see the number of people on this list that cry that auto mechanics are evil and charge too much, same thing will go on in the residential side of things.

I probably would not work for a new house builder, everything is about speed and low cost.

Originally Posted by Father Of Giants

This sounds like the way of the future, cars will soon become extraordinarily complex computers on wheels.

I'm up for learning programming.

Computer programming will do zero to help repairing a car, having electronics knowledge will. Also, electrical ( house wiring ) and electronic skills ( fixing a TV ) , are not the same thing but it is possible to know both.

Some other things to consider. Are you willing / able to do the work you chose on a daily basis when you are 65 ? I got out of the day to day auto repair business at 34 because I could see there was a hard physical road ahead. I moved into industrial / factory machine repair - design. Half of my time was spent in the office doing research / design / directing others and the other half on the floor doing repairs.

Now at 55 I've semi retired and do work for various businesses when they need high level electrical / electronic / mechanical help. This leads to the importance of having a good reputation.

I recently stopped at a machine shop to have something surface ground. The knew me by rep, didn't remember my name but after an actual minute of conversation wanted me to look at a machine that was not operating. This Russian horizontal mill built in 1974 , had the control electronics up graded in the mid 90's and has zero documentation for the upgrade. I'm being tasked to get it running, generating wiring diagrams and documentation. The control cabinet is the size of 4 refrigerators and it pretty full of PLC / relays / contractors / DC drives .

In an area where cost of living is low, it is going to pay in the area of $40 / hr. Their other machines desperately need attention so this is likely to lead to near full time work.

In the end you need a skill set that is interchangeable across many fields. Having a good foundation in electronics / electrical / pnuematics / hydraulics / mechanical systems will accomplish that.

[Simpler=Better]

Originally Posted by Father Of Giants

Time to be an electrician it looks like. Maybe HVAC.

You mean commercial HVAC (They pay on time, and don't fuss)

[barry12345]

My earlier point was things are changing in a way. That the future of living and working in north America is no longer really even predictable.

Massive increased product reliability diminished one trade I had in a signifigant fashion alone. In twenty five years. I can always work even at my now advanced age if I desire to do so. I worked because I enjoyed doing it.

As for making money and having a reasonable lifestyle. Using and developing your brain and not your hands is how you do that. Financial security in life can prove elusive without using your brain when young.

For some strange reason books that tell you how to attempt to get everything together. In some form of reasonable fashion. Taking into account we are not all born equal. Do not really seem to exist. At the same time there are many various yardsticks of good practices. Now unfortunately ignored in general by the majority.

If you are fortunate to have a reasonably good functional family behind you can really help. For many years I made it a practice to talk to older guys. In general most want you to do well. In my case a couple I ran across where exceptional.

Some societies place more value on them than others. Many suggestions from some of them will not occur to young people otherwise. The rate of change became substantial in my lifetime so far. There is no reason to suspect any change other than more of the same but faster.

[vwnate1]

There will always be a need for good Mechanics so put in the effort to actually learn how to understand, diagnose and repair things, most who make their living as Mechanics, are parts changers and are easily flummoxed by anything that scanner cannot diagnose for them .

Be aware that real Mechanicing involves getting dirty and using your brain a lot, often in really unpleasant surroundings .

OTOH, actually fixing things gives a great feeling of accomplishment .

FWIW, plumbers make far more # but, they have to work with excrement.....

? Why be afraid ? the future is not written , wait and see what happens next .

[GregMN]

2017 plug in electric vehicle market share of new vehicle sales = 1.13%