Mitchell has published its latest Plugged-In: EV Collision Insights report for Q2 2024, which features the latest U.S. and Canadian claims data on battery electric vehicles (BEVs), mild hybrid electric vehicles (MHEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) — highlighting how differences in their complexity and construction are affecting claim costs and repair operations.

“Although BEV sales have slowed in 2024, sales of mild and plug-in hybrid automobiles remain strong,” Ryan Mandell, director of claims performance for Mitchell, said. “Like BEVs, these vehicles can be costlier to repair after a collision when compared to their internal combustion engine, or ICE, counterparts. However, with both an ICE and small electric battery, mild hybrids are remarkably similar to gasoline-only powered automobiles when it comes to claims severity.”

In Q2 2024, the average claims severity for repairable MHEVs was $4,726 in the U.S. and $5,302 in Canada, according to the report. For vehicles with an ICE, it was $4,806 in the U.S. and $4,958 in Canada, a difference of $80 and $344, respectively. Since PHEVs rely on a larger, high-voltage battery in addition to a secondary ICE, their average severity is more closely aligned to BEVs at $5,059 versus $5,753 in the U.S. and $5,665 versus $6,534 in Canada, according to the report.

According to Mitchell, other notable findings in this quarter’s report include:

Parts utilization: OEM parts continue to be used more frequently in the repair of BEVs, with 89% of the parts dollars on estimates for repairable BEVs being OEM parts as compared to 65% for ICE automobiles. 

Total loss frequency: The total loss frequency of BEVs and 2021 and newer gasoline-powered vehicles — which are comparable in their complexity and cost to repair — remains similar at 9.16% for BEVs in the U.S. versus 9.45% for ICE automobiles and 7.24% versus 8.52% respectively in Canada.

Repair operations: Although BEV collision-damage estimates have a higher average number of mechanical labor hours than ICE appraisals (5.21% compared to 8.18%), they’re less likely to include frame labor. Frame labor is added when technicians use a hydraulic frame machine to straighten both full ladder frame components and unibody structures. The lack of this labor type on BEV estimates could mean that their design is more effective at preventing crash energy from damaging the vehicle’s structural components.

 Nikola Corporation, global provider of zero-emissions transportation and energy supply and infrastructure solutions via the HYLA brand, appointed Thomas “Tom” Schmitt as its Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).

As CCO, Schmitt will align Nikola’s commercial efforts to scale the company’s business. He will oversee the company’s sales, commercial operations, dealerships, service, customer success and marketing functions.

Schmitt brings to Nikola decades of transportation leadership, having served as CEO of Forward Air, CCO of Schenker, CEO of Purolator and FedEx Supply Chain and is a longtime board member for various well-known entities, Nikola Corporation said.

“Fortifying our commercial team is crucial to our success as we focus on our customers’ experience and expanding the zero-emission Class 8 marketplace,” said President and CEO, Stephen Girsky. “Tom brings a solid track record built over the past 35-plus years that will help drive forward Nikola’s strategic and operational goals, inside and out.”

Blue Bird Corporation announced it has delivered its 2,000^th electric, zero-emission school bus, which it said marks “an industry-leading milestone.” Clark County School District (CCSD) in Nevada received Blue Bird’s 2,000^th electric vehicle (EV) to help the nation’s fifth largest school district transition its school bus fleet to clean student transportation.

CCSD operates 373 schools serving more than 300,000 students. The district maintains a bus fleet of more than 1,900 vehicles. CCSD transports over 123,000 students each school day on more than 1,400 bus routes.

Blue Bird said it provided its most advanced All-American electric school bus to CCSD. Featuring Blue Bird’s new, extended range battery, CCSD’s milestone zero-emission vehicle can carry 84 students. Depending on the charging infrastructure, the bus takes between three and eight hours to recharge fully.

CCSD received a $9.875 million grant through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean School Bus Program to purchase electric school buses, including Blue Bird’s zero-emission milestone unit. This program is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) which provides a total of $5 billion over five years for clean school bus transportation nationwide.

CCSD’s milestone unit is now one of more than 2,000 Blue Bird electric school buses serving school districts across 41 U.S. states and 4 Canadian provinces, according to Blue Bird. Replacing 2,000 diesel-powered and polluting school buses with an equal number of zero-emission vehicles reduces harmful carbon emissions by more than 21,000 metric tons annually. In addition, nearly 150,000 students a day are no longer exposed to diesel tailpipe emissions linked to serious health issues such as asthma or heart disease, the company added.

On racecars, mechanics in the pit lane will tune the settings of the shocks and springs for the track. Some race shocks have six adjustments for compression and rebound, so they can be tuned for the exact amount and rate of suspension movement needed. But the moment they leave pit lane, the settings can’t be changed.

Electronically adjustable shocks and struts have been available for 20 years. The first applications were on luxury and sports cars, and the different modes could only be selected by the driver. These early systems firmed up the compression and rebound settings. The units typically had a small stepper motor mounted on the shaft of the strut or shock that went down into the valves of the piston or into the base of the unit.

Modern systems can read the road and the driver’s intentions to help select the correct amount of dampening force. These systems see the vehicle dynamics through accelerometers and Hall-effect sensors, and they can change settings in milliseconds. Some can even detect potholes and dial up the rebound so the wheel does not drop to the bottom.

Electronic Shocks/Struts

Electronically adjustable shocks and struts use conventional mono-tube and twin-tube oil-filled dampeners. The rods, gas chambers and piston have the construction of passive units. Like a passive unit, they can fail if they leak, the gas escapes or the rod is bent. They can also wear out like a conventional unit as the oil inside breaks down and surfaces in the bore wear.

What make these units unique are the valves with their variable orifices. These valves regulate the flow between the chambers on either side of the piston. The piston in some units, however, does not have any valving.

The size of the orifices is controlled by electromagnetic solenoids that can control the valves very quickly. The electrical connections and solenoids are typically found outside the body and act on the valves inside the unit using magnetism. The signal to the solenoid is pulse-width modulated and varies the voltage to change the size of the orifice.

The valves and solenoids can’t be serviced or separated from the shock or strut. If a problem is detected with the system, the valves go into a fail-safe position that is fixed, and the system becomes passive. The driver is then alerted to the problem with a message or light on the instrument cluster or message center.

Measuring Wheel Movement

Ride-height sensors not only measure the position of the suspension, but also the rate of movement. They are supplied with a voltage of around 5 volts. The signal voltage is changed as a magnet moves past a coil. Most sensors have three wires — ground, power and signal.

Internally, it is difficult to damage one of these sensors. Externally, the linkage that connects the sensor to the suspension arm can also be damaged. The connector can be damaged and cause a short or open and a code will be set. If one of these sensors is replaced, it must be calibrated after it is installed.

Ride-height sensors are sometimes called suspension-position or wheel-displacement sensors. The data from the sensor is used to measure the movement of the suspension. By knowing how far and fast the suspension is moving, the module can use the information to determine the size of the orifice in the dampener to control compression and rebound.

Measuring Body Movement

Accelerometers are simple devices in theory. Imagine a fishing rod mounted to a moving object like a suspension knuckle. As the object moves, the fishing rod deflects. The faster or further the object moves, the more deflection there is in the fishing rod. An accelerometer is similar to the fishing rod, but instead of a rod, you have an almost microscopic beam mounted between fixed sensing elements. As the beam moves between the fixed elements, the “capacitance” of a circuit changes.

Accelerometers, however, do not measure distance, but rather movement, inertia and gravitational forces. When mounted to the body of the vehicle, the data can be used to see how the movements of the suspension are influencing the body.

Information from the accelerometers is coupled with data from the ride-height sensor, steering sensor and other inputs by a computer processor in a module. The module can determine if the vehicle is going around a corner or traveling down a bumpy road. With this datastream, the valving inside the dampener can be adjusted in milliseconds for the best control and ride quality.

The accelerometers on the body differ from vehicle to vehicle. Some manufacturers mount the sensors under the headlights and near the taillights. Others mount the accelerometers on the strut towers. More sophisticated systems use more than two accelerometers mounted in various locations.

Control Module

The control module for the electronic dampeners needs more than the movement of the wheels and body to determine the correct settings for the dampeners. The module uses and shares information with the anti-lock braking system, engine control module and instrument cluster. This information is typically shared on the high-speed CAN serial data bus. On some BMW 7-Series models, the information is shared on the fiber-optic Flex Ray bus.

With all this information, the module can do some amazing things with the adjustable dampeners. Problems like nosedive under braking, torque steer and understeer on front-wheel-drive vehicles can be minimized. If the vehicle has air ride, the volume and pressure inside the air springs can also be tuned along with the valving in the dampeners to optimize ride quality and control.

Bollinger Motors, a subsidiary of Mullen Automotive, plans to begin production of saleable units of the Bollinger B4 Chassis Cab on September 16, 2024. Deliveries and revenue recognition of the B4 EV truck are expected to begin in October 2024. Bollinger released this video, highlighting the start of production.

Bollinger said its B4 Chassis Cab, a Class 4 commercial truck, was designed from the ground up with extensive fleet and upfitter input. The chassis design encloses and protects the 158-kwh battery pack and components. Bollinger is working on production with Roush Industries, which provides contract manufacturing services from its facility in Livonia, Michigan.

“This is an exciting time in Bollinger Motors’ history, as it takes a monumental team effort to go from start-up to production in the timeframe we have achieved,” said Bryan Chambers, president of Bollinger Motors. “The Bollinger Motors team, Roush Industries and our entire supply chain network has worked tirelessly to make the B4 a reality and I am very proud of everyone’s effort.”

Bollinger Motors recently qualified for federal clean vehicle tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act of $40,000 per vehicle for the B4 chassis cab.

Look at Ride Height

Suspension angles are dynamic. As the body and suspension moves, the angles will change in the front and rear. OEMs tune these angles for the best tire wear and stability at a set ride height. 

If a spring is weak or missing a coil, the alignment angles will be off these calculations.

Compare Side to Side

Sometimes, a bent component is difficult to spot with the naked eye. If you see a caster, steering angle or SAI reading that is off, compare components on both sides. The key areas to observe are the steering arms, strut mounting points and control arms. Most chassis parts are designed to bend at strategic points to prevent damage to the frame or unibody in the event of a crash.

Don’t forget the tires 

When doing your pre-alignment inspection, always check and set tire inflation pressures. A low tire will cause a pull, and a car also will pull toward the side with the smallest or widest tires. Another factor that could cause a steering pull are variances in the construction of the tires. These types of problems can be diagnosed using a balancer that can measure the rolling forces in the tires. 

Check TSBs

TSBs for alignment issues often have titles referencing tire wear and steering pull complaints. The majority of the TSBs focus on warranty procedures and reimbursement. But, read between the lines and you can find the truth. One Nissan TSB even told technicians to align a vehicle as close as possible to the specifications and ignore the tolerances. Another Honda TSB told technicians to pay attention to plant codes and production dates of a particular tire size and brand to cure a steering pull.

Doubt the Bushings

Suspension bushings may have increased in size, but these bushings can still wear to the point that they will change alignment angles. On the alignment rack, the angles might be within specifications, but loads are put on the bushings during braking, accelerating and corning that could change those angles. The most common sign of a worn bushing is inside edge tire wear and negative toe out.

Going Green Is Not Always Best

Even if all of the angles are in the green, the car may still have an alignment problem. Interpreting the angles and thinking about how an angle on one side can “add up” to trouble on the opposite side is critical for avoiding comebacks. Positive camber on one side with negative camber on the other can add up to a pull, even if the specs are within tolerances, because ±5° on both sides can add up to 10º.

Calibrate and Finish

Many vehicles require that the SAS be reset or recalibrated after an alignment is performed or parts in the steering system are replaced. There are three types of reset procedures: systems that self-calibrate on their own; vehicles that require specific wires or buttons be pressed; and systems that require recalibration with a scan tool. If the SAS is out of calibration, most vehicles can tell if they’re traveling in a straight line. But if the angle is too far off, the ESC could become disabled. Some newer vehicles can automatically calibrate by having the wheel turned from lock to lock and then centered and cycling the key. There are many options for scan tools to reset the SAS. Some tools are even integrated into an alignment system. But, most tools recommend that the calibration be performed on a level surface. Also, it’s a good idea to perform a lock-to-lock turn to complete the calibration.

Success in the automotive aftermarket often stems from humble beginnings and a deep understanding of the industry. Mike Fiorito, the current Director of KYB Americas, exemplifies this journey. His career in the aftermarket began unexpectedly when he took a job as a production and inventory controller at Edelman after graduating from college. Although his background was in marketing, this role provided him with invaluable insights into the industry, starting from the factory floor.

However, Fiorito’s introduction to the automotive world started even earlier, at the age of 15, working at a car wash. The job taught him important life lessons, such as the importance of doing things right the first time and understanding the details of the task at hand—lessons that would stick with him throughout his career.

After gaining extensive experience at Edelman, Fiorito transitioned to Brake Parts Inc., where he spent 17 years, moving through various roles from sales to vice president. This period was instrumental in honing his skills in product management, marketing, and executive leadership, Fiorito said.

When KYB presented an opportunity, Fiorito was initially unsure, but was encouraged by industry peers to take on the challenge. Over time, he assumed the role of Director, leading the company with a focus on product integrity and industry education. Under his leadership, KYB has distinguished itself in a competitive market by offering precisely engineered products tailored to specific vehicles, emphasizing their commitment to quality over quantity.

Fiorito’s career also reflects the value of mentorship, having been guided by several mentors throughout his journey. He now prioritizes mentoring the next generation, ensuring that they gain a comprehensive understanding of the industry, much like he did.

Episode Overview

• Fiorito explains his career path (1:16)
• Fiorito mentions the importance of mentorship (5:25)
• How does KYB differentiate itself in a crowded market? (7:59)
• KYB and sustainability (11:42)
• Lightning Round (15:19)