The auto business is big in country towns, but the EV transition will change that

I used to live in the Queensland country town of Warwick. It is a town of about 12,000 people with limited job opportunities. It is a centre for Dressage (they hosted the world championships) and boasts a TAFE for training apprentice mechanics for performance autos.

Many a Sunday morning we awoke to the sound of angry bees as the highly tuned cars raced around the Morgan Park track. The apprentices didn’t mind showing off their turbos on the straight stretch of road near our house late on Saturday nights as they impressed their girlfriends.

Warwick is typical of country towns. Driving down the highway hill as you enter from the north east you will notice how auto centric the businesses are. There are several car dealerships, then a few large servos followed by a string of small businesses specializing in keeping those cars on the road – muffler repair, radiator recore, engine rebuild, etc.

As the changeover to electric vehicles gathers pace, what will happen to these businesses and the jobs they provide? What will happen to the TAFE, its teachers and staff? Yes, we have time now to plan for other job opportunities, but I don’t know of any government, state, federal or council policies that are doing so.

The new EV start up companies are selling on line. Dealerships may evolve into delivery centres, not needing salesmen but greeters. Some car brands are still insisting on a servicing regime “to maintain the warranty”. But how long will that last when they still include the price of oil in the bill.

EV owners will wake up to the fact that their car doesn’t need to be checked every 15000 km. Large servos on the highways will survive as high speed charging centres. But may face competition from chargers provided by councils, utility companies and others moving into the space. Slow chargers at shopping centres and home charging will cater for the locals.

The saddest thing for me will be the slow demise and loss of the father and son businesses that depend on an ICE car breaking down.

There will probably be a surge of business as country people, reluctant to change, hang on to their Hilux ute way past its use-by date. But inevitably there will be fewer engine rebuilds. What then? More and more mechanics competing for less and less work.

We have time to adapt. But what careers advice would you give the 18 year old leaving high school in 2021? Would you advise him or her to be an auto mechanic?

David Waterworth is a researcher and writer, a retired school teacher who continues to provoke thought through thedriven. He divides his time between looking after his grandchildren and trying to make sure they have a planet to live on. He is long on Tesla.