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Carquefou (France) (AFP) – No oil stains or petrol smells: a garage 100% dedicated to electric (and hybrid) cars opened in mid-October north of Nantes, with the aim of carrying out the least expensive repairs possible for the wallet and for the environment.
“When an electric car owner breaks down, they are often offered to completely change the battery or the charger”, explains Alexis Marcadet, 35, managing director and co-founder of Revolte, presented as the first “e-garage” in France. .
“It’s like going to the doctor for a cough problem and he offers us a lung transplant,” said the man who previously worked in the rental of electric scooters.
The Revolte company, which employs around fifteen people, was founded in 2020, when already more than 300,000 electric and rechargeable hybrid vehicles were circulating in France, according to figures from the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
After a prototype tested in Rennes, some sixty private investors allowed the opening of this brand new garage, rather quiet and where no drop of oil has come to stain the ground nor no smell of gasoline takes to the nostrils .
In the workshop, to make the vehicles last, the e-mechanics take care to detect the precise cause of the breakdown among the electrical components or sub-components.
“Sometimes it is enough to replace a small part of the battery, a simple contactor or a resistor”, explains Jérémie Noirot, 38, co-founder of Revolte, who previously worked at the SNCF.
“When replacing a battery can cost up to 17,000 euros, replacing an electrical card inside costs ten times less,” he says, estimating the average amount of quotes offered at around 2,000 euros.
“We are addressing pioneers who bought an electric car before 2015 and are no longer under warranty”, describes Alexis Marcadet.
“They face following-sales services dedicated to thermal cars that do not have the capacity, the tools or the places to repair their car,” he continues.
“Great technicality”
Pointing to the need for “the creation of a real sector”, the expert in mobility and environment for the association 40 million motorists, Fabrice Godefroy notes difficulties in “obtaining information from equipment manufacturers and manufacturers” for the followingmarket on electric vehicles.
“An electric vehicle requires greater technicality and they should not eventually become too expensive to repair” and therefore “disposable cars”, he criticizes.
The cars supported by Revolte (Renault Zoé, Peugeot iOn, Citroën C0, Nissan Leaf, Kia Soul or even a DS5 hybrid) are well spaced from each other for safety reasons.
“The electric batteries being permanently under voltage, we must be careful with all our manipulations”, warns Mr. Noirot, equipped with safety clothing and a visor to protect his face.
For the time being, there is no initial training course to become an “e-mechanic”. The members of the workshop therefore have either skills in thermal mechanics or in electrical engineering.
To meet demand – around a hundred cars are on the waiting list, according to the garage – Revolte wants to recruit around ten “e-mechanics” in 2023.
A “Revolte academy” has also been created to train new recruits and introduce young people or professionals in retraining to this profession.
“In the automotive sector, recruitment is a real challenge, but we rely on our search for sustainability to differentiate ourselves,” says Pauline Toussaint, 32, head of the academy.
The young company hopes to prove that this concept of “e-garage” has a future before spreading elsewhere in France.
© 2022 AFP
