Electric vehicles: Is a workshop drought coming?

Electric vehicles require fewer oil changes and have fewer traditional engine components. Does that mean independent workshops are heading towards a future without enough work, or is South Africa still decades away from that problem?

The fear is understandable.

A large part of the traditional workshop model is built around internal-combustion vehicles. Services generate oil and filter sales. Cooling systems, timing components, clutches, exhausts, injectors and turbochargers all create repair work.

A battery-electric vehicle does not have most of those components.

If every petrol and diesel vehicle disappeared tomorrow, the mechanical aftermarket would change immediately.

But that is not what is happening in South Africa.

Start with the actual numbers

South Africa sold 597,338 new vehicles in 2025. New-energy vehicle sales, including hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles, totalled 16,716 units, representing approximately 2.8% of new vehicle sales. The International Energy Agency reports that fully electric cars remained below 1% of South African new-car sales in 2025.

The existing fleet is much larger than one year’s new-vehicle sales.

South Africa had approximately 13.36 million registered vehicles at the end of 2024, while the average vehicle on the road is now around 10 years and 11 months old.

That means even a rapid increase in electric sales would take years to materially change the vehicles arriving at an ordinary independent workshop.

New vehicles do not replace the entire vehicle parc in one year. They enter it gradually, while older vehicles remain on the road.

For the near future, South African workshops will continue servicing a very large population of petrol and diesel vehicles.

The transition has already started

It would still be a mistake to ignore electric vehicles because current volumes are small.

The RMI says battery-electric vehicles remain below 1.5% of the national vehicle parc, but hybrid vehicles are already entering workshops across the country. In February 2026, the RMI launched a three-year e-mobility skills partnership focused on lecturer development, high-voltage safety, updated curricula and stronger cooperation between colleges and the industry.

That tells workshops something important.

The immediate change is not that every vehicle becomes fully electric.

The immediate change is that workshops begin seeing a more complicated mixture of technologies.

One day’s bookings may include:

• a conventional petrol vehicle;
• a common-rail diesel;
• a mild hybrid;
• a full hybrid;
• a plug-in hybrid; and
• eventually, a battery-electric vehicle.

The workshop does not move neatly from one technology to the next.

It must support several generations at the same time.

Hybrids may create more complexity before EVs create less maintenance

A fully electric vehicle removes the internal-combustion engine and many related service items.

A hybrid does not.

It combines an engine, fuel system, cooling system and emissions equipment with electric motors, power electronics, a high-voltage battery and additional control systems.

For an independent workshop, hybrids may therefore create a period in which vehicles become more complicated rather than simpler.

The technician still needs mechanical knowledge, but now also needs to understand:

• high-voltage isolation;
• electric motor operation;
• regenerative braking;
• battery cooling;
• power electronics;
• multiple cooling circuits;
• electronic air-conditioning compressors;
• vehicle communication networks; and
• manufacturer-specific safety procedures.

The RMI describes high-voltage systems, advanced diagnostics, software integration and battery management as areas requiring a new level of technical expertise.

A hybrid does not necessarily reduce the need for a skilled workshop.

It changes what that skill must include.

Battery-electric vehicles still require workshops

Electric vehicles may require less routine engine maintenance, but they are not maintenance-free.

They still have:

• tyres;
• wheel bearings;
• steering;
• suspension;
• braking systems;
• air conditioning;
• cabin filters;
• cooling and thermal-management systems;
• 12-volt electrical systems;
• body electronics;
• safety systems; and
• software and diagnostic requirements.

Their weight and immediate torque can also affect tyre and suspension wear, depending on the vehicle and how it is driven.

The workshop opportunity may move away from routine engine servicing and towards diagnostics, tyres, suspension, cooling, electronics, air conditioning and system-specific repairs.

The business model will need to change with it.

Charging only for parts fitted and treating diagnostic time as free will become increasingly difficult to sustain when more workshop value comes from knowledge, testing and access to technical information.

The real danger is not a work drought

The greater near-term risk is a skills drought.

There may be vehicles available to repair, but too few people who can work on them safely and confidently.

A workshop that waits until several hybrids are already standing outside may discover that:

• no technician has completed high-voltage safety training;
• the workshop does not have the correct personal protective equipment;
• staff do not know how to identify high-voltage components;
• the diagnostic equipment cannot access relevant systems;
• technical procedures are unavailable;
• insurers have not been consulted;
• the job card does not include high-voltage safety steps; and
• nobody is willing to take responsibility for the vehicle.

Buying a set of insulated gloves at that point does not make the workshop EV-ready.

Readiness begins with training and procedure.

Do not buy everything at once

Future readiness does not mean every small workshop must immediately purchase the most expensive EV equipment available.

That can create a different problem: capital tied up in tools that are rarely used while urgent improvements elsewhere are neglected.

A practical approach is to expand in stages.

Stage one: Know what is already entering the workshop

Review the vehicles serviced during the previous 12 months.

How many were mild hybrids, full hybrids, plug-in hybrids or electric vehicles?

Which brands appear most often?

Do not build an EV strategy around global headlines. Build it around the vehicles actually entering your area.

Stage two: Train for awareness and safety

All workshop staff should at least understand how to recognise a high-voltage vehicle, where the main risks are and what they must not touch.

At least one suitable technician can then begin formal high-voltage training.

Stage three: Build the process

Create a specific check-in and workshop procedure for hybrid and electric vehicles.

It should address:

• vehicle identification;
• charging status;
• warning messages;
• high-voltage isolation requirements;
• key control;
• restricted work areas;
• personal protective equipment;
• technician authorisation; and
• final safety checks.

Stage four: Invest according to demand

Purchase tools, diagnostic subscriptions and equipment when there is enough actual work to justify them.

Partner with specialists for work the workshop is not yet equipped to complete.

A controlled referral is better than an unsafe repair.

Your software must identify more than the make and model

The move towards hybrid and electric vehicles makes accurate vehicle identification increasingly important.

Two vehicles with the same body shape may have completely different drivetrains and safety requirements.

A job card that says only “Toyota Corolla service” is no longer enough.

The system should identify the exact vehicle and keep relevant information connected to it, including:

• drivetrain type;
• model derivative;
• VIN;
• service requirements;
• technical procedures;
• previous repairs;
• diagnostic results;
• warnings; and
• technician qualifications or permissions.

This is one of the reasons Flow5 keeps the selected vehicle connected throughout the job.

Technical information, checklists and AI-assisted prompts should relate to the actual vehicle rather than a generic description entered from memory.

What should workshop owners do now?

Do not panic about an immediate disappearance of petrol and diesel work.

The South African vehicle parc is large, old and still overwhelmingly powered by internal-combustion engines.

At the same time, do not mistake slow adoption for no adoption.

The global market is moving faster. Worldwide electric-car sales exceeded 20 million units in 2025, representing roughly one in four new cars sold. South Africa’s transition is slower, but vehicle technology and skills requirements are still being influenced by that global shift.

Use the current period as a preparation window.

Train one person. Improve diagnostic charging. Update technical-data access. Create safe procedures. Record drivetrain information properly. Watch the mix of vehicles arriving every month.

The workshops that prepare gradually will not need to make one desperate, expensive change later.

Where this ends up

South African workshops are not facing an immediate drought of repair work.

They are facing a gradual change in where that work comes from.

Oil services and traditional engine repairs will remain important for years. Hybrids will add new layers of mechanical and electrical complexity. Battery-electric vehicles will reduce some service items while increasing the importance of diagnostics, electronics, thermal management and specialised knowledge.

The workshop of the future will still need technicians.

It will simply need technicians who are prepared to keep learning.