The figure I heard was that an ICE (internal combustion engine) has about 200 moving parts, whereas the motor in a BEV (battery electric vehicle) has 6. Maybe not precise, but something like that.Jules59 wrote: ↑4 Aug 2021, 1:07pm How user-serviceable are BEVs ?
Cars are pretty reliable in my opinion and once my cars are out of warranty I've tended to do my own servicing, which saves loads on labour charges (and makes sure its actually done).
I'm told BEVs are cheaper to service because the BEV parts don't need servicing like an ICE (eg oil change , cambelt, spark plugs etc).
So servicing will largely be about things common to both ICE and BEVs, - brakes, suspension, 12v electrical stuff etc
You missed several components from your list of service items in an ICE. A more complete list is:
Oil
Oil filter
Timing belt
Air filter
Spark plugs
Sump plug washer
Fuel filter.
Gearbox oil (if automatic)
Coolant
Anti-freeze
Points and solenoid (at least back in the good old days)
And that's just the items which are part of standard service routines (or at least those I can think of off the top of my head).
When you take into account the other parts of the power plant that aren't service items, but which might fail:
Oil pump
Water pump
Coolant thermostat
Gear box
Clutch
Fuel pump
Fuel injectors
Exhaust
Oil cooler
ATF cooler
Gaskets, many and various.
Turbocharger
(and maybe others)
The simplicity of a BEV becomes even more attractive.
I used to do a lot of servicing on my cars. Not any more. I had bought a new brake caliper and was ready to fit it. But the car was going in for a service and MOT anyway, and the garage said - "we can fit that for £20". I'm too old and have enough money not to be farting around on my drive.
The thing is that a lot of the service items that are common to ICEs and BEVs are things I wouldn't really want to tackle. Suspension and steering, for instance. So for me there's not much left to do.
Reports on various Leaf forums are of very low service costs, usually ~£100.
I think franchise-only servicing was stopped several years ago, wasn't it?Jules59 wrote: ↑4 Aug 2021, 1:07pm But I wonder would the need to be part of some rental or hire scheme (due to the high cost buying a BEV, and maybe later, of replacing a battery) prohibit owner-servicing and lock people into franchise-only servicing - which of course the main dealerships would love and would cost a lot more.
I don't think BEVs have a cambelt or a water pump, so that problem is solved.
I don't view garages as my mortal enemy, always out to get every last drop of my life blood. I took my last car to a main dealer, as they were the only specialist round here. The service was excellent, and they were quite willing to be flexible, for instance fitting a used subframe that I had sourced myself. They often did little jobs for nothing, and never left me stuck, either fixing a fault immediately, or lending me a car to keep me mobile. I had none of shoddy and expensive "main dealer" treatment that people complain about. Before that I took my previous cars, Volvos, to a very well established and experienced independent Volvo specialist, who were just as good.
Of course if you can save yourself some money by doing your own servicing, then go right ahead. It's not for me.