Ongoing transformation
The car mechanics of yesterday have changed a lot. “The tool box and hands covered in dirty grease, that’s all over” summed up Mr Coroller, Head of Transport and Mobility at ADEME (the French Environment and Energy Management Agency). “We have now entered the age of mechatronics” he added. Multiplexing, direct injection, electronic computers, driving assistance … for twenty years, electronics has played an increasingly important role in vehicle mechanisms, incidentally changing working methods dramatically.
Today, all garages are equipped with sophisticated diagnosis tools, and it has become increasingly difficult to repair or maintain one’s car outside of a specialised network.
In fact, this tendency should intensify with the gradual electrification of vehicles. Although the evolution of the gas engine will continue, the transformation of the thermic vehicle into the electric vehicle – directly or via intermediary technologies such as hybrid – seems inevitable.
In these conditions, the activities linked to electric and electronic engineering represent an area of development to be prioritised - and a major stake. If they wish to retain their motoring know-how and carry weight in tomorrow’s automotive industry, manufacturers are going to have to fine-tune their work force and develop new expertise.
The 3EA example at Renault
Renault, which is banking heavily on the electric vehicle, has already had a subsidiary for 10 years. Called 3EA (3E for electric, electronic and electro-technological; A for automatic), it brings together 2,000 people from the worlds of engineering, production, after sales, etc. “There’s a transverse structure aiming to define a common policy across all the 3EA areas.
It is therefore shared by all the sectors of the company in order to bring together best practices (methods and tools) and to optimise career paths within the subsidiary”, explains Pablo Thorner, Executive Secretary for this subsidiary.
Objective: ensuring coherence within professions with the prospect of growth in electronics and, in particular, mass EV production. Objective: to bring the various professions into harmony with each other in order to ensure that the use of electronics is able to progress within the automotive sector and in mass EV production in particular.
In practical terms, the structure functions as well within existing systems (electronic monitoring and adjustment of thermic engines, on-board electronic systems, driving assistance systems, etc.) as it will do with the electric models to come (the Fluence ZE, Kangoo ZE, Zoe and Twizy). The 3EA subsidiary is the real backbone of the company’s EV projects and is part of a global approach, which takes into account the vehicle and its environment (infrastructure and associated services).
And for good reason, “it’s not the first time we’ve made electric vehicles but it is the first time that an automotive manufacturer has gone into mass electric vehicle production”.
Professions undergoing change
From battery production to the design and manufacturing of vehicles, not forgetting distribution and after-sales networks, the automotive sector has to evolve in order to ensure the development of the electric vehicle.
Certain professions will die off while others evolve or are created. For all that, “one should not expect a total rupture”, chastened Christian Moulon, vocational specialist at the GNFA (National Automotive Training Group). An example: “jobs in repair evolve but their principle doesn’t change.” On the other hand, as with all innovative techniques, “we are particularly careful with safety”.
This is taken into consideration from the design stage, so that the vehicle is as safe as a normal vehicle, regardless of the conditions of use. Any operation is thus subject to rigorous procedures in order to control electric energy as we control fuel today.
In addition, implementing up a charging terminal network in the country is part of the new puzzle to be put into place. “The expertise exists and the technology has been mastered”, confirmed Arnaud Mora, MD of DBT and Freshmile. This new company, given the responsibility to roll out an ad hoc infrastructure in Alsace, is preparing to recruit technicians and IT specialists to maintain and run installations. “It’s particularly in the software domain, notably with information systems, that there remains much to be done and many new solutions to be found in order to respond to the future requirements of mobility.”
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