A Guide to Servicing and Maintaining an Electric Car

Electric motors have a much simpler design than an equivalent petrol or diesel engine car and as a result there are fewer moving parts. This means there are fewer parts which require inspecting and replacing such as oil, filters, cambelts, spark plugs etc.. 

The battery also requires little or no maintenance just a check over to ensure that it is still performing to its expected capability. Other EV specific parts such as the cables will also be checked over to ensure safe operation. 

The transmission on an EV often only has one or two gears and therefore are much simpler than those found on combustion engine cars. Most of these units are sealed for life so will never need any maintenance. 

Finally, EVs have a specific cooling system which keeps the battery at a consistent temperature whether it is hot or cold outside. These are usually liquid cooled and a technician will need to check the levels of coolant and top up if needed. 

Outside of the battery, transmission, and electric motor, EVs have similar components to a combustion engine car. 

Such as the brake pads and discs which should need replacement less often as EVs often slow down using regenerative braking instead which uses the electric motor to decelerate. The brake fluid will likely require changing every two years. 

The air conditioning will require a check up at set intervals and may need the pollen filter changing and the system re-gassed for optimal running. 

Finally, the suspension and steering components will need to be checked over and the tyres will need replacing once worn. 

As EVs are running high voltage systems it is important that the car is only looked at by a specialist. For new EVs and in order to protect the warranty on the battery and car it is most likely you will need to take the car back for service and MOT at an authorised dealer. 

It is likely to need servicing once every year or every two years depending on the model. 

Contact us to find out more about servicing intervals or click below to find your nearest Inchcape dealership.   

As there are fewer components to service this reduces the overall cost of parts and the time it takes to service the car. This means that the maintenance bills for EVs compared to a combustion engine car can be much less. 

There are two ways to pay for maintenance.

1. A single, one-off payment which you pay for each service at the time it is completed. 
2. A service plan which allows you to spread the cost of maintenance over a set number of months.  

Get in touch to find out more about your service funding options. 

Most EVs have the standard three-year warranty which comes with most cars. However, some manufacturers such as BMW then offer a much longer warranty on the battery and guarantee that it will retain a percentage of its capacity over eight years. 

This provides peace of mind if you are making the jump from combustion engine cars to EVs.