Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Servicing for Bowden

The vehicle mix here is newer than the surrounding suburbs, and that means more hybrids. They are genuinely different to look after, and not always in the direction people expect.

Brake pads. Regenerative braking uses the electric motor to slow the car and recover energy, so the friction brakes do far less work. Pads on a hybrid routinely last two or three times as long as on an equivalent petrol car.

Engine wear at low speed. In traffic the petrol engine is often off entirely, so a hybrid accumulates far fewer cold-running hours than the odometer suggests.

Brakes, again, for the opposite reason. Pads that are barely used do not wear, but the calipers still sit in the weather. Slide pins seize, pistons stick and rotors corrode because they are never scrubbed clean by regular use.

So the classic hybrid brake job is not worn pads. It is a seized caliper on a pad with most of its life left. A proper hybrid car service Bowden owners book should include cleaning and lubricating the caliper slides, not just measuring the pads and declaring them fine.

Cooling. Hybrids often have two cooling circuits, one for the engine and one for the inverter and battery electronics. The second is easy to overlook and it matters, because heat is what shortens battery life.

Tyres. Hybrids are heavier than the equivalent petrol car and often run low rolling resistance tyres. They wear, and the alignment matters more because of the extra weight.

12 volt battery. Even an EV has one, and it runs the computers that let the car turn on. A flat 12 volt battery leaves a fully charged electric car completely dead.

High voltage battery packs and their internal components need specific equipment and training, and we will tell you plainly when something is a dealer or specialist job rather than guessing at it.

2/208 Grange Rd, Flinders Park, about four minutes from Bowden.

Call (08) 8443 7900.

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