Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/112499
toolkit: Plug in to Hybrid Upkeep Shoppers confront the Wild West of hybrid maintenance The 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid: 1.5-litre i-VTEC engine with Integrated Motor Assist (IMA). A s gas prices rise and a spectrum of new hybrid and electric vehicles rolls onto showroom floors, more Canadians than ever are at least considering going greener. The provincial government���s Clean Energy Vehicle program is a tempting sweetener, too. Its CEV incentives of up to $5,000 per eligible vehicle, first offered in winter 2011, are expected to remain available through March 31, 2013, or until the fund is depleted. Officials are already forecasting another 1,300-plus more hybrid vehicles on B.C. roads as a result. And with locals adopting hybrid technology at a rate of two to one compared to the rest of Canadians, by 2030 one million electric vehicles could be on the roads in the province. Still, many buyers are hesitating, in doubt about the parts-replacement costs of this new-world technology and availability of repair services. ���Still, the reality is not as daunting as it might seem,��� says Rene Young, director of communications for B.C.���s Automotive Retailers Association (ARA). In 2010, Young paid a $4,000 premium on a Ford Fusion hybrid and hasn���t looked back since, particularly in light of his 140-km round-trip commute from Abbotsford to Burnaby. ���I just had to figure out how to get the maximum benefits from a vehicle that also runs as an electric car. So I spent a few evenings going through the manual, then going out to the car to look at what it was talking about.��� As for future repairs, the ARA is currently working to ensure that B.C.���s 7,500 mechanical and collision technicians have the skills needed for working on hybrids. And so far, adds Young, manufacturers have been ���very forthcoming��� about providing independent service providers with the technical info they need. In part, of course, because the industry recognizes that ���a good hybrid experience for consumers means repair services that are readily available.��� ���Paul Sinkewicz Honda/Wieck Media Grease Meets Lightning IT���S A BRAVE NEW maintenance world for hybrid owners and mechanics alike, with many auto technicians still waiting for experience under a hybrid hood. Meanwhile, according to on-the-ground feedback, a few manufacturing kinks still need to be worked out, in particular: ��� The potential cost of battery replacement Complicated by the fact that the technologies used, and the warranties offered, vary considerably, the battery issue has dogged hybrid sales since day one. Both Honda and Ford, for example, employ Lithiumion (LI-ION) batteries in newer models while Toyota uses a Nickel-metal Hydride (NiMH) battery. Meanwhile, one of the newest kids on the hybrid block, the Hyundai Sonata, features a lithium polymer touted as the smallest, lightest and most advanced hybrid battery in the world ��� capable of delivering the same power as other technologies with 25 per cent less weight, 40 per cent less volume and 10 per cent greater ef���ciency. The result: With 160,000-km safety nets on hybrid components now the norm, hybrid buyers need to read the ���ne print and keep in mind that high-energy power storage is very much in the ���still evolving��� stage, advises Brendan Magee, general manager of CAA auto-battery provider Club Assist. ���Because beyond 2016 it���s anybody���s guess. Capacitors, higher voltage lead-acid battery systems, small Lithium packs, DC-to-DC converters ��� all are being looked at.��� ��� Flawed maintenance schedules? ���Whether or not there���s a hybrid engine attached to it, an internal combustion engine is still an internal combustion engine with oil that needs changing every six months or every 5,000 km ��� at the very latest,��� says Kevin Tremblay of The Garage in Kitsilano. Which means the hybrids now on B.C.���s streets are not showing up as often as they should at local auto shops. In fact, says Tremblay, ���there���s a huge buzz about this in the auto industry, with mechanics questioning why [new-vehicle] manufacturers are promoting oil-change intervals of 16,000 or even 20,000 kilometres, and clients wondering why their engines die at 80,000 kilometres.��� ���P.S. THE LINGO ���Micro��� hybrids An internal combustion engine with stop-start technology. Example: the MINI. ��� ���Light��� hybrids An electric motor supplements the power of the gas engine. Example: Honda Civic (pictured above). ��� ���Series��� and ���parallel��� gas/ electric hybrids An electrical system powers the engine independently part of the time. Example: Honda Insight, Toyota Prius, Ford Fusion. ��� WESTWORLD >> FA L L 2 0 1 2 39