EV's the future of tuners?
Discussion
So, you're young and you buy your first car, re-map, free flow exhaust, high flow air filter, suspension mods etc.
In 15 years the youth of 2035 will be buying electric cars, all will be 'relatively' quick (0-60, <7 seconds) with nothing to modify. Are car tuners, aftermarket exhaust manufactures, K&N etc going to be a relic of the past?
In 15 years the youth of 2035 will be buying electric cars, all will be 'relatively' quick (0-60, <7 seconds) with nothing to modify. Are car tuners, aftermarket exhaust manufactures, K&N etc going to be a relic of the past?
knitware said:
So, you're young and you buy your first car, re-map, free flow exhaust, high flow air filter, suspension mods etc.
In 15 years the youth of 2035 will be buying electric cars, all will be 'relatively' quick (0-60, <7 seconds) with nothing to modify. Are car tuners, aftermarket exhaust manufactures, K&N etc going to be a relic of the past?
Unless the manufacturers start producing EV consumables or figure out EV modification parts, then yes, I suspect they'll eventually die out. In 15 years the youth of 2035 will be buying electric cars, all will be 'relatively' quick (0-60, <7 seconds) with nothing to modify. Are car tuners, aftermarket exhaust manufactures, K&N etc going to be a relic of the past?
A friend of mine is a mechanic in his early 30's and works at an independent garage. He is at the back of his mind genuinely concerned about his future profession as by the time he's in his mid 40s - early 50s his skill will be in very low demand and being at an independent garage he isn't privy to EV repair training from the manufacturers.
It will still exist but "tuners" will be more stockists and fitters of aftermarket wheels, body parts, spoilers, vinyl wraps...
Very much more a visual thing than performance based.
That said I'm sure that eventually the aftermarket will work out how to hack and chip ECUs to unlock extra power, new maps etc.
Very much more a visual thing than performance based.
That said I'm sure that eventually the aftermarket will work out how to hack and chip ECUs to unlock extra power, new maps etc.
Cars will be autonomous and limited to the rules of the road (speed, cornering, distances, priorities etc) in the not too distant future.
There will always be a market for personalisation of some sort, probably visual, I'm sure.
Extended range will be where it's at until carriageway charging is everywhere.
Electric cars will need tyres. Very little else.
Modern IC cars need hardly any maintenance as it is.
There will always be a market for personalisation of some sort, probably visual, I'm sure.
Extended range will be where it's at until carriageway charging is everywhere.
Electric cars will need tyres. Very little else.
Modern IC cars need hardly any maintenance as it is.
Performance will be a definite thing -
- software update the car to release more peak power.
-that free flow exhaust will be a raising the peak power output and associated fuse on the battery.
-the electric motors and gearing will be changed to make 0-60 faster at the expense of top speed and rear wheel drive drift machines
- the eleectriuc motors might just ripped out for better ones as the component prices comes down
- aftermarket bigger batteries or lighter batteries as they become available
- improvements to cooling to give more sustainable power over a longer time
Lots and lots of options but just like you can't compare the 5 mins once a week filling up an ICE with plugging in an EV every night at home, the upgrades will be very different, but the objectives probably won't be. Its only sound/exhaust thats not so obvious a path.
- software update the car to release more peak power.
-that free flow exhaust will be a raising the peak power output and associated fuse on the battery.
-the electric motors and gearing will be changed to make 0-60 faster at the expense of top speed and rear wheel drive drift machines
- the eleectriuc motors might just ripped out for better ones as the component prices comes down
- aftermarket bigger batteries or lighter batteries as they become available
- improvements to cooling to give more sustainable power over a longer time
Lots and lots of options but just like you can't compare the 5 mins once a week filling up an ICE with plugging in an EV every night at home, the upgrades will be very different, but the objectives probably won't be. Its only sound/exhaust thats not so obvious a path.
In 2035 the majority of drivers will not have a brand new car so there will still be an abundance of fossil fuelled cars to 'tune'
Following on from that at a guess i would say interesting fossil fuelled cars will become more and more of a collectable and the tuners will have to specialise as normal garages will loose the ability to work on anything that isn't an EV
Following on from that at a guess i would say interesting fossil fuelled cars will become more and more of a collectable and the tuners will have to specialise as normal garages will loose the ability to work on anything that isn't an EV
There'll be a market, it'll just be different.
The electric motor in an EV is a computer controlled piece of hardware.
You could "flash" an EV to unlock more power in the same way you can flash an iPhone to get free apps.
People thought the move from carbs to injectors would kill off the tuning industry.
The electric motor in an EV is a computer controlled piece of hardware.
You could "flash" an EV to unlock more power in the same way you can flash an iPhone to get free apps.
People thought the move from carbs to injectors would kill off the tuning industry.
Liamjrhodes said:
In 2035 the majority of drivers will not have a brand new car so there will still be an abundance of fossil fuelled cars to 'tune'
With 20 years worth of second hand EV's available in large numbers why would drivers need to have a brand new car to be driving EV? Other than for collectable stuff ICE will have been taxed off the road well before then.SWoll said:
With 20 years worth of second hand EV's available in large numbers why would drivers need to have a brand new car to be driving EV? Other than for collectable stuff ICE will have been taxed off the road well before then.
Maybe abundance was the wrong word, however most manufactures are only just starting to add EVs to their catalogue of cars with the vast majority still being ICE and I can't see the switch being a quick one. At a guess i would say they will build ICE cars right up to the 2035 deadline, and continue after that in other territories that have not yet issued a blanket ban.
There may be an alternative factor that gives a much larger shift to EVs but so far there has been very little if any evidence that EVs will be anything other than a minority for a while yet
I reckon that, over time, the car ownership model will change. You'll use an app to summon a self driving car from the 'pool' - Uber style - when you need it. Personal car ownership will be a niche thing for enthusiasts only.
On the plus side, maybe residential areas can start to be designed with people in mind rather than as giant car parks with associated housing
On the plus side, maybe residential areas can start to be designed with people in mind rather than as giant car parks with associated housing
smn159 said:
I reckon that, over time, the car ownership model will change. You'll use an app to summon a self driving car from the 'pool' - Uber style - when you need it. Personal car ownership will be a niche thing for enthusiasts only.
On the plus side, maybe residential areas can start to be designed with people in mind rather than as giant car parks with associated housing
Good luck with the app to summon an EV down our country lanes, no passing places, long reversing procedures.....after first deciding who needs to reverse based on size, needs, common courtesy etc, and not sure a self driving car would want to get so close to the granite in the few passing places that would allow another past the other way!On the plus side, maybe residential areas can start to be designed with people in mind rather than as giant car parks with associated housing
I can see huge queues of autonomous vehicles head to head for hours
robbieduncan said:
There may be a market in installing thicker cables between the battery and motor to allow more power in shorter times (I understand the gauge of cable differs on different Tesla Model S depending on their performance), updated motors and the software to enable all this
Will be more than that, updated fuses, packs, motors, control hardware etc. not sure how this will work on tesla etc but certainly on things like leaf its already happeningRobDickinson said:
Will be more than that, updated fuses, packs, motors, control hardware etc. not sure how this will work on tesla etc but certainly on things like leaf its already happening
Exactly. Tinkerers will tinker! I’m sure there were people full of doom and gloom as carbs went out. Skills changed and we had people tuning fuel injection, breaking into ECUs etc. I’m sure there will be some outrageous gains to be had from software unlocking the battery overprovisioning (at the possible loss of battery longevity(RobDickinson said:
robbieduncan said:
There may be a market in installing thicker cables between the battery and motor to allow more power in shorter times (I understand the gauge of cable differs on different Tesla Model S depending on their performance), updated motors and the software to enable all this
Will be more than that, updated fuses, packs, motors, control hardware etc. not sure how this will work on tesla etc but certainly on things like leaf its already happeningSWoll said:
With 20 years worth of second hand EV's available in large numbers why would drivers need to have a brand new car to be driving EV? Other than for collectable stuff ICE will have been taxed off the road well before then.
I suspect that EVs will become the more desirable prospect within 10 years. Dave Hedgehog said:
even if they cant touch the ECU / Powertrain (and there are companies offering quite complex after market ECUs and digital displays for ICE cars)
there will still be a demand for suspension, brakes aero etc.
this is already available
I know EV's don't need grilles, but that front end looks so plain, surely they could do something to it to make it more interesting.there will still be a demand for suspension, brakes aero etc.
this is already available
robbieduncan said:
There may be a market in installing thicker cables between the battery and motor to allow more power in shorter times (I understand the gauge of cable differs on different Tesla Model S depending on their performance), updated motors and the software to enable all this
Quite possibly. I did similar on various motorbikes as the OEM looms were often fairly feeble. There will be some scope for modifying, but less than there is (well, was. Cars weren't as good from the factory in the past) now.
A 4wd Tesla is pretty rapid as it is. Will there be much scope for making it faster within the bounds of road tyres? Given that rapid acceleration comes free with EV, I'm not sure how many people will bother trying to beef them up further.
Edited by MC Bodge on Friday 28th February 06:15
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