Expo attendees will be able to plug into the future of the EV market at the Australian Auto Aftermarket Expo

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are one of the most discussed topics among workshops currently, so it was no surprise when more than 120 participants logged on to a special Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA) webinar on the topic recently.
This webinar – hosted by AAAA Director of Government Relations and Advocacy, Lesley Yates, and mycar Managing Director and AAAA Board member, Adam Pay – shared some of the latest research and insights into this emerging market.
The session proved to be a great introduction to what visitors can expect as part of the comprehensive education opportunity on EVs and the future of the aftermarket industry at Melbourne’s AAAExpo across April 7-9. A replay of the full EV webinar has been made public, and can be watched on the ‘AusAutoAftermarketAssoc’ YouTube channel.
One of the pressing questions in relation to EV is how quickly these vehicles will join the car parc. The AAAA recently released Australian market projections based on its assumptions of Australian buying trends and the existing government incentives.
“While these figures are always being updated based on new information, numbers from the end of last year show that when looking at the proportion of the car parc that is/will be electric, that even if 50 percent of sales are EV in 2030, the car parc will be at best about six percent EV and 94 percent traditional fuel vehicles at that point,” Lesley said.
“2045 is increasingly looking like the tipping point, so looking ahead, the AAAA believes that if you run a workshop with four bays, one of these will be EV in 2040 and half of them will be EV in 2045, assuming a steady increase and that government policy remains the same.”
To ensure its members can continue to thrive into this new era, the AAAA Board has established an EV Strategy Group focused on helping the industry prepare for this evolution. It has a simple brief – to support members to reach a point that they can confidently tell their customer – “yes, I can service your EV.”
“We see EV as evolution, rather than revolution. Once adoption picks up, we’ll need to move at pace, but right now there’s a healthy runway for the industry to transition. But we need to take action; it’ll need the industry – all of us – to do something about it; to prepare ourselves,” Adam said.
The AAAA and its EV Strategy Board feels the aftermarket needs to pay attention to the following subjects now, in order to plan to embrace EVs: knowing when EVs are coming, having the knowledge to work with them; understanding workshop layout considerations; and being ready with consumer information.
“What I am confident about, is the ability of this industry to adapt and change – we’ve proved it time and time again. Keeping our minds open to the opportunities, being inquisitive and learning; gearing up and working together as an industry to embrace the future, will ensure our collective ‘from, to’ journey is smooth and successful,” said Adam.
All of these talking points and more will be addressed as part of the AAAExpo’s ‘Electric Vehicles Trends and Opportunities’ seminar, presented by AAAA Chief Executive Officer Stuart Charity on the Saturday of the Expo.
This seminar is just one of many free seminars across the three days of the Expo focusing on the topics that matter to the automotive industry.
The comprehensive Seminar Series is complemented by the highly anticipated Workshop of the Future pavilion, replicating a futuristic workshop and bringing together state-of-the-art equipment and technology with regular presentations from industry experts across four key zones, providing workshops a path to begin a pivot toward meeting the needs of the changing car parc.

Click here to learn more about the Pavilion

For AAAExpo information, visit www.autoaftermarketexpo.com.au

To register for the ‘Electric Vehicles Trends and Opportunities’ Seminar and view the full seminar program, visit www.autoaftermarketexpo.com.au/visiting/seminar-series-2022 or for the Collision Repair Expo Seminar Series, visit www.collisionrepair.com.au/visiting/seminar-series-2022