Electric Vehicle Servicing
Electric vehicles grow in popularity each year as they become more affordable and offer improved range. This is due, in part, to the fact that their environmental impact is much lower than a regular petrol or diesel-fuelled vehicle, but also because they offer lower running costs and are exempt from urban congestion charges.
If you’ve opted to switch to an electric vehicle, keep it running at optimum performance with regular electric motor vehicle servicing at Kwik Fit.
Electric Vehicle Servicing at Kwik Fit
For electric car drivers, Kwik Fit provides a tailored Electric Vehicle Servicing package that follows your manufacturer's service schedule and won't invalidate your warranty.
We have over 300 Electric Vehicle Servicing locations and our technicians are specifically certified to carry out servicing and maintenance on electric vehicles.
Our Electric Vehicle Service isn't available to book online as we need to provide you with a quote based on the manufacturer's service schedule that takes into account several factors including:
- Your vehicle’s age
- Your vehicle’s model
- The mileage of your vehicle
So, get in contact with us to discuss the servicing options for your electric vehicle today.
What's different about motor vehicle servicing for EVs?
Electric vehicles can have different wear rates for items like brakes and tyres than regular vehicles with internal combustion engines. When it comes to tyres, wear rates are greater as electric vehicles are heavier due to the battery weight. EV tyres also wear differently as the sidewalls are designed differently for vehicle handling.
As such, it’s important to have regular checks on these items by our trained teams. They also have different maintenance requirements (no engine oil change), but may have additional filters or cooling systems that need attention.
In many battery electric vehicles, the air conditioning system now plays an important role in keeping the battery at the correct temperature to maximise efficiency and longevity. Your vehicle owner's manual handbook will tell you exactly when your service is due and the interval between each service.
What’s included in an Electric Vehicle Service?
While there may not be any exhaust checks, gearbox checks, or engine oil changes in battery electric vehicle servicing, you still have to check things like the condition of the drive chain, the electric motor, and (crucially) the health of the EV battery.
As such, we would not recommend that you attempt an electric motor vehicle service yourself. While there are fewer moving parts to an electric motor vehicle, they still have many elements that still need servicing. The main areas to service are:
Mechanics
Things like the Continuous Velocity (CV) joints, suspension, and steering.
Brakes
Surprisingly, brakes usually need servicing more frequently with modern electric vehicles because the engine braking performed during regenerative braking works well enough that the brakes are only needed for emergency braking. As such, many brakes are liable to rust and seize (even with daily driving) without adequate servicing.
Tyres
Electric vehicle tyres need to be built to withstand the much heavier load of EV battery banks – but even though they’re more rugged, they’ll need regular checking to catch premature wear and damage early. Find out more about the differences between regular car tyres and battery electric vehicle tyres in our blog.
Lights
Lights need checking as often as on any vehicle. However, many EVs will come fitted with LED assemblies – which can last up to ten times longer than Halogen bulbs. The downside, however, is that the LED bulbs aren’t replaceable, you have to replace the entire assembly. On the other hand, halogen or, more likely, xenon bulbs are simple to replace.
Battery & cabling
Unlike regular 12v car batteries, EV batteries tend to take up the entire base of the car – and can be designed to operate as high as 600v! While the battery is technically capable of operating for up to 37 years before failing, in practice this is often a lot less and needs checking regularly to keep tabs on its condition. Likewise, cabling needs more regular checks – stray, frayed cables supplying power at 600v can quickly prove fatal.
Sensors
Sensors tend to need regular checks to ensure they’re still operating as they should and that there’s no build-up of debris.
How frequently should you service an electric vehicle?
You may be wondering how often EVs require motor vehicle servicing, and whether electric vehicles or regular cars need more servicing on average.
The frequency of servicing varies significantly depending on the make and model of a car. While most vehicle manufacturers recommend you have your car fully serviced once a year, the actual mileage interval of servicing can vary as much as 8,000 miles. Some models need to be serviced every 10,000 miles, for example, while others are usually happy to wait for every 18,000 miles.
Similarly, the servicing interval varies quite surprisingly between battery electric vehicle models. So, it is always best to check your vehicle handbook for an exact figure in the servicing schedule.
How much does an Electric Vehicle Service cost?
We need to provide you with a quote tailored to your vehicle because the manufacturer's service schedule varies depending on the age, model, and mileage of your vehicle.
Our quote will include the manufacturer's 'recommended' time for completion of the service, as well as parts, fluids, disposal fees, and VAT.
Our EV service is backed by a 12-month or 12,000-mile guarantee — and, if you have a warranty, it is honoured. Because our parts and labour are as effective but more competitively sourced, we can be much less expensive than a dealership.
So, get a quote from your local Kwik Fit service centre today. For more details on the comparative price of EV servicing, read our blog titled, “Are Electric Cars More Expensive to Service”.
Service your electric motor vehicle at Kwik Fit
Kwik Fit has a large number of centres offering servicing for electric vehicle models, with many offering appointments 6 days a week. To book a motor vehicle service for your EV, please contact your nearest electric vehicle service centre. Search below for your nearest centre with facilities for electric vehicle services.
Parts & maintenance for electric vehicles
Our trained EV technicians can help with more than just servicing. In fact, we're here for all your EV maintenance needs.
We stock a huge range of tyres for all types of vehicles including tyres specially designed to cope with the added weight of electric vehicles and the additional torque they produce when accelerating so that they last longer and provide optimum performance. Find out more about our range of EV tyres.
Electric Vehicles need an MOT once they reach 3 years old just like petrol, diesel and hybrid models. Our fully trained and accredited MOT testers, can perform MOTs on all class 4 vehicles including electric models.
