IMI MotorPro Issue 19

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IT ISN’T ALL ABOUT _BATTERIES

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Yes, automotive is heading towards an electrified future, but not every vehicle that rolls out of the dealership or into the workshop is going to have a lithium battery in it. From supercars and vans to trucks and agricultural equipment, hydrogen is going to be part of the future too. Firms including JCB, Toyota, MAN and many others are investing heavily in this technology.

Most recently, British supercar manufacturer Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) and hydrogen powertrain engineers Viritech have developed a hydrogen powertrain concept for BAC’s Mono sports car.

There are still challenges – including how hydrogen can created at scale – but this will be a core technology moving forward (find out more about how it works on p70).

If we’re to be ready for it, upskilling will be key. That’s why the IMI is already focusing in on making changes to the courses and qualifications we offer to help businesses and technicians get ready for whatever the future holds.

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LEARN, ADAPT AND GROW The pandemic has been tough, and it has shaken up the way we work.

Coming out the other side as a success will mean bringing together everything we’ve learnt along the way

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the past financial year has been one of PRODUCTION CLIENT

the most challenging any of us will have ever faced. The fact that it was generally better than the previous year doesn’t alter the fact that we still spent much of it under restrictions of one form or another.

Now that we are (hopefully) beyond the worst effects of the pandemic, we have to consider the long-term changes that extended remote working will have brought to the workplace and how this affects the way we lead our teams.

Like many other businesses, the IMI has adopted a hybrid working model. We saw how effective our team could be when working remotely, and there was no good reason to fully return to our old working model. At the same time though, we want to maintain a collective team spirit and the cross-departmental interaction which happens more naturally when people are in the same building at the same time. It’s therefore important that as leaders we plan those interactions and make them meaningful, rather than expecting them to happen naturally.

One other consequence of the pandemic is the acceleration of digitalisation. For

example, we have seen the rapid growth of all forms of online customer interactions, including full, end-to-end online sales capability, which suddenly became essential when there was no other means of selling.

Despite what at the time seemed like a host of insurmountable challenges, our people worked together to get us through the pandemic, adapting to all sorts of unfamiliar circumstances in the process. If that doesn’t remind us that they are our greatest asset, nothing will. It should also remind us that, given the freedom to do so, they will innovate, adapt and show us the best and most effective ways to do things. That means they need leaders who can facilitate that, rather than leaders who simply direct.

You only need to cast your eyes over this issue’s cover story, starting on page 22, to see how we can learn lessons from our experiences of the past couple of years and emerge as better, more effective leaders.

Given the unprecedented change that our industry was already going through, it’s essential that we take those lessons to heart.

— If there’s a question you’d like us to answer, email james.scoltock@thinkpublishing.co.uk

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AC C E L E R AT E YO U R C A R E E R I N AU TO M OT I V E I S S U E 1 9

08 IMI membership Five benefits that IMI membership delivers for you 10 Ten in ten Stay up to date with the stories you need to know, from Nissan’s new solid-state batteries to less obnoxious Lamborghinis 12 Motorcycles Everyone’s geared up for electric cars, but has the motorcycle industry shifted at the same pace? And will bikers embrace an electrified future?

20 Engine tuning There’s increased interest in engine remapping, but you’ve got to steer clear of the cowboys if you want to add the skills needed to make it part of your career 22 Management and leadership The pandemic has undoubtedly changed the way we work. As the return to normality gathers speed, MotorPro examines what lessons automotive business leaders and aspiring professionals need to learn to make sure the industry is still fit for purpose 30 Inside an independent Jan Livingstone, winner of the IMI’s Patron’s Award, got stuck into helping her community during COVID-19, while also keeping the wheels turning at her family business, W Livingstone Ltd

38 Neurodiversity You may not realise it, but a fifth of people live with a neurodevelopmental condition like ADHD. Marshall Motor Group’s Daksh Gupta talks about why it has never held him back, and why it shouldn’t hinder others’ careers 42 Technical walkaround The Honda Africa Twin made its name winning the arduous ParisDakar Rally in the 1980s. These days, it’s seeing off the competition with dual-clutch wizardry 50 Learning Training went digital when we were locked down. Now we’re back faceto-face... but is there a way to get the best of both worlds?

HOW TO...

59 The How-to section _Keep things cool with green CO2 _Find your dream first job in automotive _Stay on track and achieve your goals 64 Tech Talk _Why equipotential bonding matters _How hydrogen is made

54 The drive of my life Automotive journalist and former engineer Jon Scoltock lived out his dream, building his own rally car and racing it for the first time 72 The IMI community _ The latest news and updates from your IMI _Our thoughts are with the families of IMI members who have passed away 74 My motoring inspiration Not letting dyslexia stand in the way of her passion for automotive, IMI Student of the Year Trinity Hutley is proudly pursuing her dream of a career in the industry ISSUE 19_MOTORPRO / 07

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The IMI Fanshaws, Brickendon, Hertford, SG13 8PQ Tel: 01992 511521 — MotorPro © 2022 ISSN: 1742 5204

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Published on behalf of the IMI by: Think Media Group, 20 Mortimer Street, London, W1T 3JW Tel: 02037 717200 — Editor James Scoltock james.scoltock@thinkpublishing.co.uk Art Director Ian Findlay Managing Editor James Sutton Content Director Matthew Rock Client Engagement Director Kieran Paul Executive Director Jackie Scully — Advertising Matt Hall 02037 717257 matt.hall@thinkpublishing.co.uk

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Opinions expressed in articles do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of the Motor Industry.

The publishers cannot accept responsibility for claims made by manufacturers, contributors, advertisers or readers.

— Printed by Acorn Web, Normanton, Yorkshire

Members of the Audit Bureau of Circulations Average net circulation 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018: 11,878

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WHAT HAS THE IMI EVER DONE FOR US?

As an IMI member, you’re part of a vibrant community of automotive professionals and benefit from access to an exclusive package of career support, CPD and networking opportunities.

It’s all designed to help you develop and succeed

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BRINGING THE COSTS DOWN Use your IMI membership to get discounts, saving you money at work and also at home. IMI members get discounts across a range of lifestyle, travel, health and wellbeing brands, covering everything from your weekly food shop to clothing.

If you need it, you’re also entitled to claim your free 45 minutes of legal guidance from Taylor & Emmet Solicitors as part of your IMI membership. You can use this for professional or personal issues – all you need to do is call 08701 200 009.

We know that you’ll be checking your budget at the moment, and that paying for your IMI membership could be difficult.

That’s why you can spread the cost, paying for it over 12 months to help you budget more easily, while also taking advantage of all the benefits on offer.

There’s a handy calculator and links to all the different savings available on the IMI Member Benefits web page.

— Visit imimemberbenefits.org.uk to start saving today

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CHARGING UP E-LEARNING WITH OUR NEW PLATFORM Want to learn more about the IMI’s new e-Learning platform? Now’s your chance.

The launch of the new platform is an important step.

The pace of change is putting increasing pressure on the industry’s workforce, with time and cost limitations affecting the capacity for upskilling.

To tackle this challenge, the IMI and VOCANTO have launched more than 400 interactive learning units, covering Light and Electric Vehicle technology.

Mobile-accessible at just £8 per module for IMI members (£12 for non-members), the new platform revolutionises learning, with each unit typically taking less than 15 minutes to complete. Gamification techniques are used to motivate learners and encourage you to keep making progress.

— Find out more about our new e-Learning platform at tide.theimi.org.uk/vocanto Every module can be found on the IMI website by searching for “VOCANTO” and filtering by “Courses”

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THE IMI: EVERYTHING WE DO, WE DO IT FOR YOU

_We develop people and careers _We run a global membership community _We assess and accredit individuals operating in the sector _We campaign and build public confidence To find out more about taking advantage of your IMI membership, visit theimi.org.uk/membership

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GETTING THAT TECHSAFE TM RECOGNITION Have you completed an IMI EV-related qualification in the past but find yourself lacking that all-important IMI TechSafe TM recognition?

Well, whether you’ve completed an IMI EV qualification recently or prior to 31 March 2019, there’s now an avenue to help you get the official recognition you deserve.

— Head to tide.theimi.org.uk/ imitechsafe to find out how to start the journey and to stay up to date with the latest developments

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KEEPING IMI CENTRES IN THE LOOP We work with fantastic IMI Centres across the UK and internationally. They’re at the heart of the IMI community.

To help Centres get the most out of being part of the IMI, our community platform, IMI Connect, is your single sign-in portal that puts all of our learning tools and key information in one place.

The IMI Connect dashboard provides all the information you need in one place. It's a one-stop-shop, including: • Single sign-in process to IMI systems • COVID-19 support and guidance • Quick connection to your IMI support team • Hassle-free sign-in to IMI webinars • MotorPro magazine and online content — To log in and explore the dashboard, forums and resources, and to send any comments to us using the feedback tab, head to theimi.org.uk/user/login

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MOVING YOUR CPD AND TRAINING UP A GEAR The IMI offers a range of courses – both via e-Learning and in person – to help keep your career on track and to give you the skills you need to take the next step. Many are free to members.

So, if you want to learn more about how the motor trade works, from how to use the right equipment to get the best results to advanced driverassistance systems, on-board diagnostics or health and safety, we have the content for you.

— To find the right course for you, head to tide.theimi.org. uk/learn/courses

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02 / PRICES SOAR STATESIDE

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Demand is outstripping supply on US forecourts, and the extent of the discrepancy risks contributing to runaway inflation as the high cost of energy and food squeezes American consumers. Production and supply chain issues mean that this key economic component might not be functioning properly for several years.

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01 / SMASHING SALES RECORDS

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The UK bought more electric cars in March 2022 than in the whole of 2019. The 31,395 EV registrations recorded in just one month (compared with 37,850 across the whole of 2019) continues Britain’s consistent appetite for battery-powered vehicles, even as internal combustion sales slump.

04 / CHANNEL CHAOS HITS THE MOTORWAYS Brexit, staff shortages and the scandalous mass sacking of P&O seafarers have damaged Britain’s freight link with mainland Europe and turned the M20 into a near-permanent 23-mile-long lorry park. Clogging not only the motorway but surrounding roads as well, Operation Brock – which controls Dover-bound lorries during times of cross-Channel strife – is upsetting truckers and residents alike.

03 / NO NEED FOR SPEED

05 / JUST STOP (PLEASE)

Belgium has some of the most dangerous roads in Europe, with excess speed contributing to a third of its 600-odd fatal accidents per year. To halve this number by 2030, Belgian authorities have set about abolishing tolerance margins on speeding offences, a move which has already resulted in average speeds on certain routes dropping by around 10kph.

Activists from Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion have blockaded key infrastructure, causing fuel shortages across England and making the first half of 2022 as painful as the end of 2021. Despite mass arrests and even the Home Secretary weighing in to condemn those chaining themselves to fuel tankers in Thurrock, protests are likely to become a regular feature.

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07 / GOODBYE RUSSIA

New car sales in Russia fell by almost two-thirds in March as manufacturers pulled out of the market and consumers focused on increasingly unaffordable essentials. Moscow will attempt to stimulate Russia’s domestic production, but China is likely to be the winner in terms of market share.

06 / NISSAN GOES SOLID As manufacturers race to develop viable solid-state batteries – the next frontier in EV tech – Nissan has announced that it will bring just such a product to market in 2028, with pilot production commencing in Yokohama in 2024. Energy-dense, fast to charge and more resistant to ageing than lithium, solid-state batteries are (on paper) the missing link that will make EV uptake sustainable.

09 / A WOKE LAMBORGHINI? SURELY NOT...

Pulling up in a Lamborghini is a statement, but is it a statement people still want to make? Stephan Winkelmann, the brand’s boss, isn’t sure. Not only does Lamborghini need to end its relationship with petrol, but Winkelmann also wants to ensure that the cars are less obnoxious and “get a thumbs-up” from passers-by – presumably instead of the reception they currently receive...

10 / TROUBLE DOWN UNDER

08 / THE SHOW MUST GO ON The Geneva Motor Show, once one of the world’s most important automotive events, will return to Palexpo in 2023, following a three-year hiatus during which the future of in-person trade shows was unclear.

At the Australian Grand Prix in April, F1 race director Niels Wittich caused a row by reminding drivers of their sartorial obligations. Underwear on the F1 grid must meet FIA standard 88562018 (which covers fire-resistant clothing), but several drivers have been flouting the rules. The standard will be in place until at least 2029, so competitors still have a few miles left in their old pants for now.

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When it comes to cars, our electric future is nearly upon us. But what about the two-wheeled market?

Are bikers – and the industry – ready for change?

RIDING INTO THE FUTURE WORDS_ JOHN HOGAN

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So, why haven’t electric bikes caught on yet? To answer that, there are a couple of important obstacles to consider, and it all starts with who rides them…

PROBLEM 1: THE CUSTOMERS Bikers in general are a different breed to car drivers. The simplest way I’ve been able to describe the difference over the past 20 years is as follows: the average car driver is unlikely to be able to tell you what brand of tyre they have fitted to their car, but the average motorcyclist can probably tell you the brand, the pressures they’re running at both ends, and why.

To illustrate this point, consider the truly biblical fallout that unfolded in the letters pages of magazines and on online forums when traction control arrived in earnest on bikes back in 2007.

The majority of today’s bikers still don’t want electronic assistance between the throttle and the tyre, let alone electric propulsion, so changing this culture will be one of the biggest challenges manufacturers will have to face.

You don’t have to be an international hitman to ride the LiveWire, but it definitely helps

ou may not have noticed it yet, but the official sales figures for 2021 show that electric bikes are already here. Sitting proudly above Kawasaki and Ducati in the Q4 registration data was Super Soco.

So how on earth did a Chinese brand with about as much heritage as a copy of the Radio Times manage to outsell two of the biggest motorcycle names in the business?

Well, electric bikes like those produced

by Super Soco aren’t exactly new to the UK market – but they have been an arm’slength proposition for most bikers so far.

We know they’re out there, we’re just not quite ready to talk about them yet.

You only had to tread the halls at the MCN Motorcycle Show in February to realise that there isn’t the same buzz around electric bikes as there is for their four-wheeled counterparts.

“ YOU ONLY HAD TO TREAD THE HALLS AT THE MCN MOTORCYCLE SHOW IN FEBRUARY TO REALISE THAT THERE ISN’T THE SAME BUZZ AROUND ELECTRIC BIKES AS THERE IS FOR THEIR FOURWHEELED COUNTERPARTS”

PROBLEM 2: THE BIKES Beyond the cultural problem, there are technical hurdles to overcome too.

Electric bikes are able to demonstrate incredible acceleration thanks to masses of instantly accessible torque and the twist-and-go nature of an automatic setup, but scrubbing that speed and getting the bike around a corner is more of a challenge.

Slowing a bike down requires a quality brake setup that speaks to equally matched suspension, topped off by tyres that are matched to what is being demanded of them. This might sound obvious, but it only takes a ride around the block on a budget bike to realise that just being able to go fast in a straight line isn’t enough. And as soon as the bike’s weight (much increased when you’re carrying around hefty battery packs) surpasses the performance limit of the suspension and brakes, bad things tend to happen, usually ending with a crash.

ELECTRIC IS POSSIBLE There are already some great electric bikes out there that are able to meet these challenges. The Harley-Davidson LiveWire is the most notable.

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Released in 2019, the LiveWire immediately grabbed attention; not just because it was electric, but because it was able to hide its (considerable) 249kg weight. Harley-Davidson achieved this by using a great chassis, Showa forks and Brembo brakes (which you’d typically find on a 1,000cc sports bike), and Michelin tyres developed specifically for the bike.

(Side note: at the press launch, I ended up regretting not wearing knee sliders, such was the performance on tap.)

The LiveWire can also manage more than 90 miles on a single charge and looks amazing on the side stand. You’d have to ride a 1,100cc V4 Aprilia Tuono with some vigour to see the same mileage return.

Ditto a Yamaha MT-10, and a few others.

So, if they’re that good, you might be wondering why you’re not seeing Harley-Davidson LiveWires everywhere?

The simple answer is price. All of the development costs, plus those quality parts that can deal with all that weight, equals a purchase price of £28,500.

That’s a huge amount of money compared with anything petrol-powered, and it’s clearly a figure we’re not quite ready to swallow yet.

THE RANGE EQUATION Achieving a range that’s comparable to internal combustion isn’t as big a problem for an electric bike as it is for an electric car. Recharging time is more of an issue though.

The TE-1 project from Triumph looks like it’ll be the next bike to push the envelope when it comes to recharging capabilities. Triumph is currently working with Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) on the battery technology, with Integral Powertrain on the motor side and with the University of Warwick when it comes to R&D, testing and market analysis. The aim is essentially to develop an electric version of the Speed Triple.

The development bike has a ready-toride weight of 220kg (just 10% heavier than the 2022 Speed Triple). It produces 177bhp (compared with the LiveWire’s 105bhp), and it’s packed with all the big names when it comes to gripping, stopping and turning.

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made a particular demand of the technology supplied by WAE in this area, and at the minute they’re saying that you’ll be able to put 98 miles of charge into the bike in less than 18 minutes. A comparable charge for the LiveWire would take at least 40 minutes.

Triumph is also confident that the production costs won’t make the bike prohibitively expensive, and they’ve said they won’t release the bike until the market is ready to pay what they’re asking.

Triumph is reluctant to commit to an on-sale date for this bike, but I’d expect to see a version of it by the end of the year.

LEGAL HEADACHES Once manufacturers have been able to change the culture of the market they’re trying to reach, with products that are markedly cheaper and more accessible than today’s, the other thing they’ll need to contend with is legislation.

This presents a unique challenge.

In simple terms, anything with two wheels that isn’t powered by petrol is classed as an Electric-Powered TwoWheeler (E-PTW). For every genuine manufacturer that is spending millions developing a bike, passing the various testing requirements in countries around the world and then developing dealer networks to support their customer base, there’s a mountain of knock-off companies flogging cheap electric scooters and

Something tells me Steve McQueen would approve of the TE-1. (He might even call it a Triumph!)

“ MOTORCYCLES CURRENTLY MAKE UP AROUND 3% OF ALL VEHICLES ON UK ROADS AND PRODUCE LESS THAN 1% OF TOTAL CO 2 EMISSIONS”

pushbikes to anyone who’ll buy them.

The market is awash with vehicles that are, simply put, dangerous.

Indeed, the vast majority of the electric bikes that you’ve already seen on the roads are essentially illegal. If a PLEV (Powered Light Electric Vehicle) can travel at more than 15.5mph, then it should technically be taxed, insured and carrying lights and a numberplate.

There’s theoretically a fixed penalty of £300 on the line if you get caught operating outside of the law, but I’m yet to meet anyone who has heard of such a penalty being given out. Although motorcycles don’t fall under the same looming 2030 ban on sales of petrolpowered vehicles, I suspect we’re on course for some kind of legislation to help us cope with the volume of E-PTWs on the way.

THE BIG PICTURE Motorcycles curretly make up around 3% of all vehicles on UK roads and produce less than 1% of total CO2 emissions.

Sales projections for electric bikes over the next five years look incredibly exciting, as the market eyes up getting more bikers involved rather than just shifting existing bikers to electric. This is going to be great for the industry, but it needs to be approached sensibly.

So, the future may be bright, but it’s true to say that the perfect electric bike doesn’t exist yet. Then again, neither does the perfect electric bike customer. The shift could well be generational, so that by the time today’s children realise that riding bikes is about so much more than just mobility, they’ll have access to the kind of electric bikes that don’t exist yet.

Thankfully, those bikes are coming.

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COMPLIANCE IN THE SPOTLIGHT

MOTs are an incredibly important part of what this industry does, and Autotech Training exists to help companies stay in line with the DVSA’s rules

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Every year, more than 30 million MOTs are carried out across the UK. The DVSA’s priority, then, is to ensure that standards are maintained across all of these tests, and that each testing station and tester complies with the regulations.

To make sure this happens, and to measure any potential risk of noncompliance, the DVSA has the ability to gather information on a testing station or an individual MOT tester at any given time. This data can even be sourced remotely, with the DVSA monitoring performance through its risk rating system. That system then delivers a Red, Amber or Green (RAG) rating, which is applied to businesses and individuals alike.

Unfortunately, four years since it launched, testers and testing stations are still falling foul of the RAG rating. In the first year alone, for instance, the number of MOT testers struck off by the DVSA increased by 80%. But compliance can be as simple as staying on top of your continuing professional development (CPD) to make sure that you don’t fall down the rating and risk dropping out of the MOT sector altogether.

Staying compliant Autotech Training is fully aware of the challenges facing businesses and testers, and it’s trying to keep the MOT industry compliant by making sure everyone stays up to date with their training.

Colin Gleghorn, Managing Director at Autotech Training, says: “We provide a whole range of flexible training; candidates can come to us in Milton Keynes, or we can deliver training on the premises of any garage or aftermarket business.

“We can also support them with CPD to help people meet the pass mark when they take their annual test, keeping garages in business and maintaining standards in the industry.”

Compliance, either as an MOT tester or as a manager of a testing station, is

crucial. Recent legislation around who can hold the Authorised Examiner Designated Manager (AEDM) role has clarified certain things for testing stations, but there are still challenges. As MOT testing is a core service, the focused help offered by Autotech Training could be incredibly valuable.

For example, one service which Autotech Training offers comes in the form of the Authorised Examiner Consultants (AECs).

An AEC is a subject-matter expert who can be appointed to look at the performance of the testing station and its testers. Once appointed, AECs can take an objective look at the business, carry out an audit to see what level the business is running at and then monitor it every month to make sure it consistently operates at the right level.

This extends to providing recommendations at the tester level in order to spread best practice and standardise MOTs. And while it’s important to make sure that businesses are meeting their targets, it’s also about working closely with individuals too. Autotech Training offers a full range of training to not only ensure that a testing station remains compliant, but also to support MOT testers through their annual assessment and training – a period which can be fraught with stress.

“Learning can be done at different paces,” says Gleghorn. “Not everyone is a scholar, and some people learn better kinetically. We provide different avenues to maintaining compliance depending on who we’re working with. It all means that no matter who the tester is, there’s an approach that will suit them and their style.”

Running an MOT business can be stressful, but it’s important to keep that knowledge up to date to prevent testers from slipping down the ratings system. No one wants to go into the red – or lose the ability to test.

— To find out how Autotech Training could help you stay compliant, head to: autotechtraining.co.uk/mot-training

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CHANGING THE TUNE Advanced engine remapping is more relevant than ever before – but be careful out there WORDS_ ED WISEMAN

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on paper , the remapping industry doesn’t make much sense. Modern cars are, by most accounts, pretty good, representing a century or so of innovation, expertise and investment.

Cars are cleaner and faster than they’ve ever been, with phenomenal economy and performance made increasingly affordable thanks to the ceaseless work of manufacturers and the billions they pour into product development every year. Surely they can be relied upon to get things right first time, without the need for aftermarket tinkering?

But that’s where “on paper” and the real world diverge. Because while manufacturers mostly hit the right

spot – for most people, most of the time – engine remapping offers the customer the opportunity to optimise a vehicle’s behaviour for a specific, often unique use case. And while remapping sounds like (and is) a relatively modern process, it has its roots in more traditional, mechanical forms of tuning which have been around for as long as internal combustion itself.

“When I was a young man, we wanted to make our cars go faster,” says Paul Busby, CEO of tuning firm Viezu. “I got involved in car tuning in the traditional way about 20 years ago, when we were taking off heads, porting and polishing – the quite traditional, old-fashioned method. You’d have a customer’s car in bits for weeks,

that case a 9% fuel saving equated to nearly £4m a year.”

In addition to making cars accelerate more aggressively or reach higher speeds than the factory specification describes, remapping companies like Viezu can make cars cruise more efficiently or even slow them down. And on top of the clear performance and efficiency upgrades, a remap can improve safety too.

“We did a load of vehicles for British Gas,” explains Busby. “It was mostly very economical little Caddy vans. They were the meter-reading vans, so they have no tools on board and no weight. And these things absolutely fly. Well, that’s great if it’s your own personal vehicle, but British Gas didn’t want everybody doing that. It’s always worth putting a speed limit on, but you can still get to 70mph very, very quickly in an unladen van. So, actually, we could easily take a load of power away from those vehicles and save a lot of fuel.

They still go really well. You would hardly notice if you drove sensibly.”

and they would end up with a very large bill. We were doing quite a good job.

“But at one stage I looked around and realised that people were driving cars into workshops and driving them out an hour later with 50 more brake horsepower. And we couldn’t get anywhere near that with a £10,000 bill and four weeks of work.”

HOW IT WORKS In basic terms, remapping an engine involves replacing or modifying the existing map – the code that tells a car how to behave in response to certain inputs. Ordinarily, this is done in search of “better” performance; things like torque delivery and throttle response can be adjusted to suit fast driving, rather than the more everyday pottering that most drivers undertake. But Busby is keen to point out that not every remap is done with track days in mind.

“In 2008, when fuel prices first went through the roof, we were literally remapping mums’ and dads’ Volvo diesels, and we were getting 8 or 9% fuel savings,” he says. “We did the BT fleet, 24,000 vans, which was all about fuel economy. That’s the largest fleet I know that was tuned anywhere, and in

IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT POWER But even if you’re not an M-badged speed merchant, a thrifty high-mileage driver or the fleet manager of a large utility company, remapping could still be relevant to you. The owner of a camper van who one year decides to tow a Fiat Panda behind his rig might want torque to be made available lower down the range. Similarly, a tradesman with a mini digger on a trailer will need very different characteristics to someone transporting pillows.

You can even switch between two different maps depending on your needs that day. A proud dad tentatively adding his 17-year-old son to the insurance on his Audi RS6 might want to limit the horsepower and top speed while the car is in inexperienced hands, or a track day legend might tune her Porsche 911 GT3 for maximum attack at Brands Hatch

“ THERE ARE SOME TOTAL COWBOYS OUT THERE, RUNNING WHAT WE CALL CLONE TOOLS. THEY’RE KNOCKOFF VERSIONS NORMALLY MADE IN CHINA, WHICH TEND TO BE QUITE UNRELIABLE”

but want it to be a little bit less snatchy on quick trips to Sainsbury’s.

Remapping enables customers to find a fit that suits them, whether it’s off-the-peg or tailor-made. But there’s a catch. “The warranty question is probably the most common question we get,” says Busby.

“And most main dealers will tell you that you’ve taken the vehicle away from the manufacturer specification [by having it remapped] and that your warranty is now void. Well, that’s not strictly true.

In most cases, the warranty work will still be carried out.

“We had a case recently in which a Range Rover engine consumed all its oil and failed. The dealer immediately said, ‘Well, you’ve had a tune, which voids your warranty’. We got involved with the Land Rover head office, showed them the map we’d done, and we could see absolutely no reason at all why anything that we’d done would have caused the engine to consume more oil. Land Rover agreed, and the job was done under warranty.

If they’d disagreed, it would have gone to our insurance company.

“Having done this for 18-odd years now, I can’t think of a warranty claim we’ve ever had rejected. We’ve sometimes had to get independent inspectors, which is a bit of a pain, but I can think of only five times that’s happened and in every case it’s gone through under warranty.”

AVOID THE COWBOYS Of course, Viezu is one of the good ones: a remapping provider with an excellent reputation, offering a sophisticated product along with insurance, ISO 9001 certification and all the other trappings of a serious company. But not everybody in this game is playing to the same standard.

“There are some total cowboys out there running what we call clone tools, which are not genuine. They’re knockoff versions normally made in China, which tend to be quite unreliable. Sometimes they can damage the ECU. So, you know, choosing a good tuning partner who’s got the right tools, the right experience and a good reputation is really, really important. You will probably pay a little bit more for it.

“Like all industries, there are great tuners out there,” concludes Busby.

“And there are those who started five minutes ago and really don’t know what they’re doing. Those guys are an absolute nightmare.”

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8 HABITS AND MINDSETS TO MAKE YOU A MODERN AUTOMOTIVE LEADER The automotive industry – and the way we all operate in it – is changing. And our outlooks and approaches to leadership need to evolve with it.

The IMI’s recent Diversity & Inclusion Task Force report encouraged MotorPros across the industry to embrace the diversity of talent out there. But we also need to embrace new ways of thinking.

We asked one of Britain’s top leadership and management writers to give us the heads-up on the new mindsets required to thrive in the new, post-COVID workplace. You may think this doesn’t apply to you, but perhaps it’s time to think again…

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SELF-AWARENESS AND SELF-DISCOVERY

management boffins have been banging on about “emotional intelligence” for years, but there’s one element of this which is really important. Entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, author of Twelve and a Half: Leveraging the emotional ingredients necessary for business success, says that what really matters is delving inwards to understand your strengths and weaknesses as a leader. This will give you a valuable advantage, he argues. Becoming more self-aware forces you to acknowledge your shortcomings and enables you to do something about them.

There’s a bit of “becoming your own coach” about all of this. Sarah Ellis and Helen Tupper, authors of You Coach You: How to overcome challenges and take control of your career, write that it’s useful to ask yourself: “What do I want to be true in 12 months’ time that isn’t true today?” Answering these sorts of “coach yourself” questions will help you to identify what positive action you need to take now. And by prioritising self-discovery, you’re more likely to be able to guide yourself through setbacks. Self-awareness also gives you the emotional intelligence to put yourself in the shoes of the people you manage, giving you the empathy and understanding to lead a strong team.

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RESILIENCE AND FORTITUDE bruce daisley, host of the

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podcast Eat Sleep Work Repeat, has spent the past two years investigating resilience – one of the buzzwords of the pandemic.

His new book, Fortitude: Unlocking the secrets of inner strength, debunks some of the myths around resilience – not least that if you don’t feel very resilient, it’s because you don’t try hard enough. In fact, what makes individuals resilient in a healthy way (and not just as a way to compensate for earlier trauma), Daisley argues, is collective strength. People who are resilient tend to feel that

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they are part of a team and truly connected to others.

For managers, this means making sure your team members don’t feel isolated, and that you do your best to create a community spirit when everyone is together.

It might be as simple as making sure that everyone has a laugh together once every few weeks, or encouraging groups with common interests to meet. It could be vintage car enthusiasts, new parents or aspiring chefs.

It can be lonely at the top too, so make sure, as boss, that you keep your own tank of fortitude topped up.

IKIGAI AND A DEEP SENSE OF PURPOSE

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right, take a deep breath. If

you want to be an effective leader in 2022, you need to cultivate a deep sense of purpose and motivation in yourself and your team. According to Elizabeth Uviebinené in The Reset: How to change how we work and live, this may mean following the Japanese concept of ikigai, meaning “a reason for being”.

It’s a way of matching up what your business needs with the different talents and experiences across your team. So, if you can figure out where your team’s value lies – and give them what they really need through their

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work – then, bingo, you’ll create a fulfilled group of people.

Ranjay Gulati, author of Deep Purpose: The heart and soul of high-performance companies, says that the pandemic made people ask themselves: What is my purpose? And is my job fulfilling that purpose? Research has shown that when employees find that their job, career and life purposes are aligned, they are more likely to feel inspired and are much more productive. At a time when people have come to expect more from their lives, that’s one of the best ways for leaders to retain their top employees.

HIGH RISK TOLERANCE

richard noble is the serial risk-taker behind the Bloodhound and Thrust cars which brought the land speed record back to Britain in 1983 and achieved the first supersonic record. He encourages all of us to think about risk. “Taking risks opens up the most incredible opportunities,” he writes in Take Risk! “And to understand risk, you have to welcome it, live with it, encourage it and accept its consequences every day.

Failure to accept and live with daily risk leads to a very sterile climate in which innovation happens elsewhere.”

This is where leadership comes in. “Leaders have to work harder and faster than anyone else in a team and have a sacred duty to ensure that decisions are made very quickly so that the organisation can move ahead smartly with implementation,” he argues. “But above all, leaders have to delegate responsibility and authority wherever possible, with the objective of getting the organisation working really fast and effectively on a wide scale.” So, to create a risk-taking team, cultivate a high-trust, highly communicative, no-blame culture.

“Taking risks opens up the most incredible opportunities, and to understand risk, you have to welcome it, live with it, encourage it and accept its consequences every day”

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A DIGITAL MINDSET

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you don ’t have to be a techie to get by in this new data-driven world, say professors Paul Leonardi and Tsedal Neeley in their book The Digital Mindset: What it really takes to thrive in the age of data, algorithms, and AI. They argue that you don’t need to know everything there is to know about data science, for example; you just need a depth of knowledge which is equivalent to about 30%. What’s more important, they argue, is having a digital mindset which enables collaboration, computation and change.

Collaboration means knowing how to work with people effectively through digital tools such as AI-powered bots. It’s also very important to have a basic knowledge of statistics so that you can make your own decisions about whether or not you should have confidence in the predictions that are given to you. A digital mindset, then, means accepting that change is constant; that you can’t know what products or tools are likely to be successes or flops without experimentation; and that the people who work for you need to learn constantly.

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THE COURAGE TO TACKLE BIG PROBLEMS

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we ’ ve all heard a lot about global problems such as climate change and social inequity over the past couple of years. And, frankly, it’s no longer possible to stick your head in the sand about them.

In Net Positive: How courageous companies thrive by giving more than they take, former Unilever CEO Paul Polman and his coauthor Andrew Winston urge managers and leaders who feel powerless to make a change for the better to step up and stand with others to build a better world. “The best leaders, the ones people will want to follow into this new territory, are

first and foremost good human beings,” they write.

Simply put, courageous leaders care about more than making a profit. “How do we heal the world?

The solution, perhaps, is as simple as love. In the end, finding our humanity at work is about knowing who we work for, and what we’d want our loved ones to say about the way we’ve spent our lives,” they write, pointing to the actions of the CEO of one large European carmaker, who recently gave her board homework ahead of a strategy session: write a letter to their grandchildren about what they achieved on the board. So, what would your letter say?

OUTSIDE-IN THINKING

in the automotive industry,

we work in the customer service business. Perhaps it’s time to recognise that putting customers first and truly making your team, department or business customercentric can be transformative.

In The Customer Copernicus: How to be customer-led, Charlie Dawson and Sean Meehan argue that the prevailing “inside-out” leadership approach needs to be replaced with “outside-in”. What this means is taking a perspective which starts outside your business (ie, with your customers) and then looking inwards to work out how the business might best respond.

“Inside-out”, meanwhile, is where you start with what matters to your business, and then extend that into the outside world.

Getting “outside-in” right means obsessing about customer

service and delivering on those commitments rather than prioritising shareholder returns or hitting sales targets. The likes of EasyJet, Timpson, Deliveroo, Amazon and Sky are all “outsidein” companies. It’s not just about asking customers what they want and then doing it. It’s about understanding what they value, the problems they want to solve or the outcomes they want, and then finding new and better ways to help them achieve this.

“Getting ‘outside-in’ right means obsessing about customer service and delivering on those commitments rather than prioritising shareholder returns or hitting sales targets”

ACCEPTANCE OF DISAGREEMENT one final fresh mindset… and

this one will appeal to the strongwilled among you. In The Power of Difference, Simon Fanshawe, co-founder of LGBT+ charity Stonewall, writes that inclusion is not really about being nice to people: “It’s about conflict or potential conflict rather than agreement… It’s about productive disagreement rather than winning the argument. The only agreement it requires is the desire to achieve a common interest.”

An even better way of putting that idea comes courtesy of Verna Myers, VP for Inclusion Strategy

at Netflix, who says: “Diversity is being invited to the party.

Inclusion is being asked to dance.”

So, how do you get all your colleagues to get up and dance?

The key, writes Fanshawe, is to make sure the invitation to dance is “made by everyone and to everyone, and then you all have to agree what dance you are dancing.” This means giving everyone in your team the space and safety to speak up and be listened to with respect. Then you’ll need to support some productive disagreement in order to generate good solutions.

— Want to see the whole picture?

To find out how automotive is changing and to read the complete range of recommendations from the IMI’s Diversity Task Force report, head to: tide.theimi.org.uk/ about-imi/diversity-task-force

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as the world’s population increasingly

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flocks towards cities, we’re all in danger of losing sight of just how important smaller communities are to the fabric of society.

Take the town of Uddingston, just outside Glasgow. Famous as the birthplace of Nobel Prize winner Sir James Black, the scientist behind beta blockers, and as the home of Tunnock’s (of teacake and caramel wafer fame), Uddingston is also where you’ll find W Livingstone Ltd, a dealership which has been selling cars to local residents for more than 60 years.

Still a family-owned business to this day, W Livingstone became an IMI Brass Plaque Dealer in 1997 and has won the award for Scotland’s best franchise garage three times. It’s one of the oldest SEAT dealerships in the UK, having held a franchise for the Spanish brand since 1991.

The business sees its success as coming through a combination of hard, honest work, fair prices and always giving great customer service. Those beliefs still hold true today for the descendants of founder William Livingstone: his grandchildren Robin and Jan Livingstone.

Over the past couple of years, during the height of the pandemic, the dealership has also been a beacon of corporate social responsibility thanks to Customer Service Director Jan. She recently won the IMI’s Patron’s Award, with the judges noting that Jan’s belief in the importance of community spirit mirrors the ethos of the IMI.

It’s a family affair for Managing Director Robin, dad John and Customer Service Director Jan

COMMUNITY COUNTS Businesses aren’t just about making money; they’re also part of the community. That’s why family-run dealership W Livingstone Ltd and its Customer Service Director Jan Livingstone MIMI pulled out all the stops to help during the height of the pandemic WORDS_CRAIG THOMAS IMAGES_MIKE WILKINSON

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MotorPro: How did you get so involved in community groups during the pandemic?

I saw a request on social media for help within the community, and somebody had decided that they were going to start up a group. I just went along and offered to help. It grew from there.

Initially there were just a few of us, making meals and getting them delivered to people who needed them. Then people started asking us to do some shopping for them, so they could make their own meals. At the height of the pandemic in July 2020, we were sending out about 200 meals a night. We had 11 or 12 different delivery runs within the area, so we had maybe 20 drivers signed up.

We were doing that seven nights a week.

The deliveries contained dinner and lunch for the next day, things like that.

Some people just wanted things like pasta with sauces so they could make their own meals, and some people just couldn’t get out to the shops.

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The programme evolved to include a lot more than just providing food; you helped people collect prescriptions and even organised clothing donations for families in need. How did you keep the business running at the same time?

Although the dealership initially closed during the first lockdown, my brother and I were still in every day. I would come in and work the morning, finishing at about 3pm, and then I’d go to help out at the action group.

You say it was a group effort, but your organisational skills from your professional life helped too, didn’t they?

I did a wee bit of cooking in the beginning, but for me it was more about sorting out the list for the distribution, packing the meals of an evening, getting them out, delivering them, that type of thing. We also managed to get somebody who was a cook at a local café who was on furlough, so she took on a lot of the cooking, and

Robin helped to keep things ticking over on the dealership side while Jan was volunteering

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Things are back in full flow in Uddingston (and thankfully not lateral flow...)

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then when she went back to work, she still carried on doing it of an evening, or on her days off.

Why was it so important to you to help the community?

There were young girls on their own with three or four children and no money to buy food. Elderly people were not seeing their families because they couldn’t come out. Whoever delivered that wee meal at the end of the day was often the only person they’d speak to that day.

And you kept the younger generation busy too?

For Easter, Halloween and Christmas, we organised parades handing out Easter eggs, Halloween sweeties and Christmas selection boxes. Seeing all the wee children out and running about really pulls the community together.

Everybody lined the streets. It was great to be part of that.

Now that the pandemic is abating, how is the work continuing?

Things have slowed down, and last summer we stopped sending the meals out. There just wasn’t as much need for it anymore. But while we don’t do that now, we are still there to answer phone calls from people who need things.

And we give all our food donations to the local church.

How did it feel to win this year’s IMI Patron’s Award?

It was a great night. My dad was heavily involved with the IMI, and I spoke to quite a few people on the night who remembered him and spoke highly of him. My dad’s retired now, so he misses out on all of that, but it was really nice to hear those complimentary things being said about him on the night.

— Jan Livingstone was speaking to Craig Thomas

The IMI’s Professional Register is an industry-wide database of professional individuals recognised for maintaining their knowledge, skills and competency.

To learn more, visit imiregister.org.uk — For a full list of the IMI’s accreditations, which provide individuals with proof of current competence for their automotive abilities using a mix of skills- and knowledge-based assessments, search “IMI accreditation” ISSUE 19_MOTORPRO / 35

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STRONG AND AGILE

Since 2003, Eurorepar Car Service has been working with independent businesses around the world to build an all-makes garage network that’s ready for the future

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Big business or small independent? It can sometimes feel like David versus Goliath, but it doesn’t have to be a choice of one or the other. Indeed, there are plenty of independent garages which are proudly controlling their own destiny – but which are also backed up with the support of a larger entity.

Eurorepar Car Service (ERCS) started out in 2003 as part of the Citroën re-franchising programme and has now grown into a business which spans the globe, with more than 5,700 operations in 30 different countries as part of the Stellantis group. And since 2017, its footprint in the UK has been expanding too.

It’s now working with more than 200 independent businesses to build an allmakes garage maintenance and repair network.

Nick Taylor, General Manager at ERCS, says: “We recognise local strengths and the local heroes, and we’re aware that local customers go to these businesses for a reason, but by working with ERCS they have access to a range of tools and

strategies that can help them expand and succeed.”

While the Stellantis name might conjure up an image of working with very specific vehicle brands, ERCS actually works on any make and model.

In fact, that’s central to its 360º strategy: any car, any make, any age, any value. “That’s a really important message; ERCS exists to support our partners and supply and drive their commercial propositions, no matter who their customers are,” says Taylor.

The independent partners are part of a structured and

“We need to get a grip on electrification today and not leave it to 2030. We’re about to launch training processes internally which will allow our partners to access relevant training and information on the skills busy garages need”

professional network with access to a range of parts, as well as a full network of distribution, technical support and centralised marketing materials to help them be as competitive as possible while delivering quality products.

YOUR SUPPORT NETWORK

An independent business looking to join ERCS needs to meet certain requirements.

“We ask for a minimum of two ramps, two technicians and two productives,” explains Taylor.

With these basic requirements in place, ERCS can then help businesses become even more successful. “We’re looking to help them grow, help them retain customers, retain their place in the market, but also help them penetrate their local marketplace even further,” Taylor adds.

ERCS has a team of regional managers whose role is to help the businesses in the network.

That on-the-ground knowledge has proven incredibly valuable during the disruption of the past few years and will be vital moving forward as the industry prepares for an electrified future.

“We need to get a grip on electrification today and not leave it to 2030,” says Taylor.

“We have our academy, and we’re about to launch training processes internally which will allow our partners to access relevant training and information on the skills busy garages need.”

ERCS also has access to other agencies which offer highly discounted training, to help people become Master Technicians and pick up the knowledge required to work on EVs. “We are making sure we’re prepared for it,” Taylor says.

“The demand at the moment from partners is: ‘I need to be aware, keep me informed.’ Most partners have, to some degree, a basic level of understanding of electrification. Inside Stellantis over the past two years, we’ve increased our awareness of electrification massively. It’s about pushing that information out, drip-feeding it, and when our partners ask a question, having open conversations.”

— To find out more about about becoming a partner, head to: www.eurorepar.co.uk

NICK TAYLOR

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WE NEED TO TALK…

You may not realise it, but a fifth of people live with a neurodevelopmental condition like ADHD. As Marshall Motors’ outgoing CEO Daksh Gupta has found, that doesn’t have to be a barrier to following your dream – or hiring the industry’s next rising star WORDS_ JAMES SCOLTOCK

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“ THERE’S A HUGE LACK OF UNDERSTANDING, AND I INCLUDE MYSELF IN THAT. I DIDN’T KNOW I HAD ADHD UNTIL 15-ODD YEARS AGO, SO I’M QUITE COMFORTABLE TALKING ABOUT IT”

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brain is constantly on the go. “I don’t sleep a huge amount – that’s the thing – because my brain is constantly going,” he says.

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aksh gupta FIMI

was, until recently, Group Chief Executive of Marshall Motor Holdings, one of the UK’s largest dealer groups. The business excelled during his 14-year stewardship; underlying revenues grew from £300m to £3.4bn, with annual operating profits growing by £60m in his time at the helm.

But what you may not know about Gupta is that he has been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He didn’t find out about it until later in life, which just goes to show that while many people know very little about this neurodevelopmental condition, those living with it can lead incredibly successful lives.

FINDING OUT “I didn’t know I had ADHD until my wife said it,” Gupta explains. “She’s an osteopath, so she’s very medically minded, and she knew immediately. She said that it’s because she knows that I do two or three things at once in my head, which is 40 / THEIMI.ORG.UK

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one of the characteristics of ADHD. I can be sat watching TV, reading a book, and be in a conversation. The person I’m talking to might think I’m ignoring them, but I can listen to every single word and fully take it on board. It can be useful if you’ve got it, but it can also be incredibly frustrating for the other person!”

And as we chat, Gupta openly admits that his focus is also on another task – not that I had picked up on it – which must be useful for someone whose daily schedule is full to the brim with meetings.

Gupta has only had the ADHD label for 15 years, but once he had the diagnosis he was keen to find out more. “I actually went to Harley Street and saw one of the leading doctors on the topic, just so I could understand it,” he says. “For me, I think it’s actually a strength, because I have the ability to do two or three things at once. I know people joke that guys can’t multitask, but actually I find that I can.”

For every benefit, there are downsides though, and for Gupta it’s the fact that his

In the UK, 20% of the population live with some form of neurodevelopmental condition, whether that’s ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia or Tourette’s syndrome. Awareness around ADHD and these other conditions is often lacking, but Gupta is keen to add his voice to help encourage others who live with the condition and to make more people aware of what it is and the implications.

“There’s a huge lack of understanding, and I include myself in that. I didn’t know I had ADHD until 15-odd years ago, so I’m quite comfortable talking about it. I’m in a privileged position where I can try and drive positive change and make a difference in people’s lives.

“I take my responsibilities as a leader seriously, not just in business but also in the wider industry, to try and bring about positive change. That’s what I think you should be doing as a leader. So that’s one of the reasons why I feel pretty comfortable talking about it,” says Gupta.

And the more ADHD is discussed, the more people will feel able to talk openly about it, and the more likely they’ll be to persevere or take a chance. And that’s got to be good for the industry.

— The IMI Diversity Task Force report, which Gupta contributed to, looks at how automotive can become more inclusive, including helping those with physical and non-visible disabilities.

— To read the complete range of recommendations, head to: tide.theimi. org.uk/about-imi/diversity-task-force

What is ADHD? The ADHD Foundation describes ADHD as a neurodevelopmental condition affecting brain structure and neurotransmission. It influences how signals are communicated around the brain and how different areas of the brain are activated.

It’s thought to be caused by a mix of environmental and genetic factors, but it’s also a strongly hereditary condition.

ADHD is present from childhood, but more and moreadults are now being diagnosed for the first time, having been “missed” when they were younger because the condition was not as well understood then as it is now.

Living with ADHD There are many different resources and support groups available to help those who have been diagnosed with ADHD. The NHS offers some useful advice to help adults adapt to life with the condition:

What are the signs?

ADHD is associated with three core traits, which affect people with the condition to different degrees: Inattention • Difficulties with concentration, short-term and working memory • Difficulties with planning and getting things started • Difficulties with organisation and losing things • Easily distracted by small things which others wouldn’t notice Impulsiveness • Acting or speaking on the spur of the moment without thinking through the consequences • Difficulty controlling emotions Hyperactivity • Adults with ADHD are usually much less active than children with ADHD, but they may still exhibit restlessness or the need to tap or fidget. Some people – particularly women – are diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (or ADD), which is ADHD without the hyperactivity.

— If you would like more information, there’s a range of charities and organisations which provide ADHD-related resources. The ADHD Foundation is the UK’s leading neurodiversity charity, offering a life-long service for the 1 in 5 of the population who live with either ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia or Tourette’s syndrome.

You can find them at: www.adhdfoundation.org.uk

• If you find it hard to stay organised, then make lists, keep diaries, stick up reminders and set aside some time to plan what you need to do.

• Let off steam by exercising regularly.

• Find ways to relax, such as listening to music or learning breathing exercises for stress.

• Speak to your employer about your

condition, and discuss anything they can do to help you work more effectively.

• If you’re at college or university, ask about what adjustments can be made to support you, such as extra time to complete exams and coursework.

• Talk to a doctor about your suitability to drive, as you’ll need to tell the DVLA if your ADHD affects your driving.

Contact or join a local or national support group. These organisations can put you in touch with other people in a similar situation, and can be a good source of support and advice.

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This Dakar champion has come a long way since the 1980s, and now it’s using its gear-shifting technology to help it stand out from the competition

OUTOF AFRICA HONDA AFRICA TWIN DCT

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WORDS_JAMES SCOLTOCK

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SUPERCHARGE YOUR CAREER WITH AN IMI-ACCREDITED COURSE

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he honda africa twin built its reputation

on the shifting sands and rugged terrain of the Paris-Dakar Rally during the 1980s. Its multiple wins in the competition – as well as its fetching red, white and blue livery – marked it out as the bike to have on all your adventures.

But in the years since it burst onto the scene, it has shifted focus, morphing from the XRV650 in its first iteration, through the XRV750 and CRF1000L, to the current CRF1100L. It has now become a frontrunner in the adventure bike market – one of the most competitive segments in the motorcycle sector.

Its history undoubtedly helps to bring in the customers, but the bike also benefits from a range of technologies designed to keep it ahead of the competition today. The CRF1100L Africa Twin Adventure Sports variant is designed as the ultimate continent-crossing, long-haul machine, whether it’s used on- or off-road. It boasts a 24.8-litre fuel tank, extensive wind protection, a height-adjustable screen, a large engine sump guard and an aluminium rear carrier, plus tubeless wheels and tyres.

Honda revised the bike in 2020 to make it smaller, slimmer, lower and 5kg lighter than the previous 998cc model, and to offer stronger performance via changes to the engine which produce 7% more peak power and 6% more peak torque. Its frame was completely revised and now features a bolt-on aluminium subframe.

The aluminium swingarm was based on that of the CRF450R moto-crosser.

It’s a tech-laden machine, with a six-axis inertial measurement unit which controls not only the seven-level torque control but also the three-level wheelie control, cornering ABS, rear lift control and four default riding modes: urban, tour, gravel and off-road. The suspension is adjustable too, allowing users to choose between several different options.

But it’s the transmission that sets the Africa Twin apart from other bikes produced by the likes of BMW, KTM and Triumph. As well as the standard manual, there’s a dual-clutch option (DCT). And it’s been refined for 2022.

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“And this button adjusts the wing mirror, to give you a full view of the top of your head”

minimal interruption of the drive to the rear wheel, any gear change shock and pitching of the bike is minimised. That’s good for both rider and any passengers.

Honda recently updated the CRF1100L Africa Twin’s DCT system to include cornering detection, so when the inertial measurement unit recognises that the bike is cornering, the system adjusts the shifting programme for the most natural gear changes.

Product Training Coordinator John Hensman has watched the technology grow and improve since it was first introduced more than a decade ago, and he knows all the ins and outs.

IMAGES_WILL AMLOT

NOT JUST AN AUTOMATIC “It’s a sequential gearbox, and that’s something we still have to tell customers because, even ten years on, there are a lot of people who aren’t aware of the technology or who don’t understand it,” says Hensman.

The DCT system delivers consistent, fast gear changes. It uses two clutches: one for start-up and first, third and fifth gears, and the other for second, fourth and sixth. The mainshaft for each clutch is located inside the other, for the sake of compact packaging.

Each clutch is independently controlled by its own electro-hydraulic circuit. When a gear change occurs, the system preselects the target gear using the clutch not currently in use. The first clutch is then electronically disengaged as the second clutch engages. As the twin clutches transfer drive from one gear to the next with

IT KEEPS GETTING BETTER

Who can resist the lure of a big red button?

“Between the first and current generation DCT, the clutch packs have been reduced in size and weight, and the two control solenoids that switch the clutch have been enhanced with more effective oil control,” Hensman explains.

Naturally, control of the DCT is constantly being updated to make sure it works most efficiently. So, although the transmission isn’t necessarily going to need much maintenance (Hensman says he hasn’t heard of any occasions that a DCT has needed replacing since its launch across Europe), technicians working ISSUE 19_MOTORPRO / 47

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“ WHEN A BIKE COMES IN FOR ROUTINE MAINTENANCE, THE COMPUTER GOES ON AND IT’LL TELL THE TECHNICIAN IMMEDIATELY IF THERE’S AN UPDATE AVAILABLE. THEY JUST HIT THE UPDATE BUTTON AND IT’S INSTALLED”

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on an Africa Twin will need to make sure the software is up to date. “When a bike comes in for routine maintenance, the computer goes on and it’ll tell the technician immediately if there’s an update available. They just hit the update button and it’s installed,” he says.

In fact, diagnostic checks for any system updates are the first thing technicians should be doing when one of these bikes comes in to the workshop. “Before dealer network technicians even get any tools out, there’s a six-pin diagnostic plug under the seat unit.

That’s plugged straight in. It’ll look at the whole bike. Technicians just need to look at the chassis code to see if there’s any technical updates or recalls,” says Hensman.

One element of the DCT which Hensman thinks is a real advantage is the system’s ability to “relearn” the biting point, which is delivered when the bike is plugged in to the diagnostic equipment. “If it’s a high-mileage bike, there’s a relearn option for the clutch pack to compensate for any wear, so it’ll relearn the biting point,” he explains.

The DCT’s robustness means that there shouldn’t be many additional steps to the servicing requirements over and above those for a manual transmission Africa Twin. “The only additional service requirement on DCTs is the sub oil filter. The main engine still has a cartridge oil filter at the front, and the same oil does the whole engine and the DCT. There’s no separate oil changes – it’s just a case of changing the sub filter,” says Hensman.

“And if the parking brake needs adjustment, it’s a two-minute job,” he adds. “Unscrew the bolts, remove the cover and there’s an adjuster bolt. But it is literally just a parking brake caliper, and it very rarely needs adjustment.”

Honda has sold more than 200,000 DCTequipped motorcycles across Europe since the system first appeared as an option on the VFR1200F in 2009, and nearly half of Africa Twin sales now feature the DCT. Honda is expanding its line-up too. This year saw the release of the NT1100 – the next bike to adopt the technology – and it definitely won’t be the last.

READY FOR THE SAVANNAH (OR SAINSBURY’S)

How do you keep the Honda Africa Twin’s DCT shifting smoothly? Honda’s John Hensman shares his three-point guide

Plug it in The first thing technicians should do is plug the Africa Twin in to the diagnostic tools to see if there are any software updates or recalls required, and get these completed before starting anything else.

01

Relearn the bite If a bike has a good few miles on the clock, it may need to complete a relearn. The relearn procedure for the DCT’s clutch pack will allow the bike to “relearn” the biting point and compensate for any wear in the system.

02

Put the brakes on Because the Africa Twin uses DCT technology, it can’t be kept in gear when parked on an incline, for example.

Instead, the bike has a parking brake. This may need slight adjustments.

If so, undo the two screws to remove the cover and make adjustments using the bolt.

03

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BACK TO THE CLASSROOM?

The pandemic forced firms to innovate with virtual learning programmes. Now that things are getting back to normal, should we be closing our laptops?

WORDS_ SEB MURRAY

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You can’t teach that kind of tool control.

Or maybe you can...

efore covid -19 struck, many executives took a dim view of online education in the automotive industry. After all, this is a hands-on field. How could you possibly learn to dismantle and repair vehicle components from behind a laptop?

Then the pandemic came along, forcing companies to invest in online learning to keep training programmes running remotely through lockdown.

While this caused problems for some training providers who were unprepared for the digital switch – resulting in more than a few student dropouts – it also delivered benefits for employers, including less downtime from staff absences and lower overhead costs.

Now, two years on, training providers are trying to lock in these advantages as they develop new, “blended” models of remote and in-person teaching. COVID-19 has also boosted longer-term interest in virtual learning, particularly among the younger generation the industry sorely needs to attract if it’s to meet rising demand and deliver on the shift to EVs. 52 / THEIMI.ORG.UK

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This might even mark a turning point in the acceptance of digital education.

“There is definitely a place for online learning in the automotive sector,” says Mark Armitage, the IMI’s Head of Membership Products and Services.

“While there are a number of hands-on skills required for technical roles, where physical attendance is ideal for learning and being assessed, obtaining knowledge through remote engagement is actually very powerful, not only for technicians but also for many other roles.”

THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS Perhaps unsurprisingly, the pandemic’s initial impact on trainees was varied.

Some found their classes were abruptly cancelled when their employer or training provider closed their facilities or furloughed staff. Other students raised concerns over the quality of hastily convened online classes.

Over at Thatcham Research, though, the transition was smoother – mainly because it had already invested in an

“OBTAINING KNOWLEDGE THROUGH REMOTE ENGAGEMENT IS ACTUALLY VERY POWERFUL, NOT ONLY FOR TECHNICIANS BUT ALSO FOR MANY OTHER ROLES” MARK ARMITAGE, IMI

online learning platform back in 2014.

Since then, Thatcham has delivered its training in a blended format. Indeed, while the company believes that practical training will maintain a stronghold in automotive for the foreseeable future, it sees a place for online education too.

The main motivation behind the development of Thatcham’s online platform in 2014 was the desire to save customers the cost of covering travel, accommodation and meals for students.

“And in some cases, it can cost clients up to 50% more to send someone on a practical training course because of the loss of productivity,” says Dean Lander, Thatcham’s Head of Repair Sector Services.

“An employee spending a whole day or two out of the workplace causes significant disruption to the rest of their team.”

By contrast, some online training solutions enable learners to dip in and out “asynchronously”, at times convenient to them. “They’re still studying during the working day, but the hit to productivity is significantly reduced,” Lander explains.

When students move through a course in lockstep, on the other hand, their collective progression is only as fast as the slowest learner. Asynchronous training programmes, by contrast, can be tailored to everyone’s preferred learning styles.

“What you can do with digital learning is play to everyone’s individual strengths,” says Lander. “Online, six people can access the same content but absorb it in different ways – whether that’s through videos, illustrations, gamification or textbooks – and spend a different amount of time on the material. In a classroom, everyone has to sing to the same tune.”

BACK TOGETHER Of course, this isn’t just a one-sided affair. The pandemic also crystalised some of the benefits of being together in a physical space. As Armitage puts it: “Where face-to-face learning adds real value is where the subject requires interaction and physical engagement, such as customer-employee roleplays, technical skills such as diagnosing, removing, replacing, dismantling and repairing vehicle components, or physical inspections and body repair activities.”

Social engagement between learners and their teachers is also extremely powerful in physical environments.

“With face-to-face learning, you get the benefit of building the relationship with the learner a lot quicker, as you can read their body language,” says Patricia Souter, Apprenticeship Manager at training provider Calibre Group Solutions. “You get to see them in situ and interacting with colleagues and customers. The training can be more interactive, and the learners can be more open with their questions.”

Even the most vocal proponents of digital education recognise that there is no substitute for the physical classroom.

“Online learning is great for providing the underpinning theoretical knowledge of

“ WITH FACE-TO-FACE LEARNING, YOU GET THE BENEFIT OF BUILDING THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LEARNER A LOT QUICKER, AS YOU CAN READ THEIR BODY LANGUAGE” PATRICIA SOUTER, CALIBRE

the mechanics of a car, without students having to leave their workplace to come to a training facility,” says Lander. “But you can’t teach them how to change a spark plug without opening up the bonnet.”

Lander adds that the temporary shift to fully online learning because of COVID-19 exposed a generational divide in attitudes towards technology. “For the more experienced technicians, needing to take on learning using new technologies was a real struggle. They are maybe not quite as digitally savvy as some of the younger ones. With the apprentices, we’ve seen no resistance. In fact, they are demanding more online tools and are pushing us to be even more innovative.” Fewer than 10% of Thatcham’s apprentices put their studies on hold during lockdown.

Naturally, to keep learners engaged and studying effectively, it was necessary to put some serious investment into the online technology. For Thatcham, this included equipping instructors with HoloLens, a “mixed reality” headset developed and manufactured by Microsoft. It enables teachers to show remote learners exactly what they’re seeing. This means, for example, that students can see the inner workings of a car in far greater detail than would be possible using a video camera.

WHAT NEXT? Armitage expects more experimentation in the months and years to come. “The pandemic has really accelerated the level of engagement with remote learning solutions,” he says. “As training providers have invested in solutions and staff training, they will continue to explore a financial return, along with efficiencies with their learning delivery models.”

Businesses and individuals have now seen the benefits of reduced downtime and lower travel and accommodation costs when compared to sending staff on face-to-face courses, he adds. “I believe we will see a blended solution moving forward, now that organisations and individuals have become more aware and experienced with remote learning.”

— Want to accelerate you career? Check out the IMI’s courses, qualifications and training, all driven by the industry’s latest skills needs and rooted in the National Occupational Standards: tide.theimi.org.uk/learn ISSUE 19_MOTORPRO / 53

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THE DAY I...

MADE MY RALLYING DREAM COME TRUE

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have always been fascinated by rallying. I may have been in my 20s before I first attended an event in person but, since then, I’ve been hooked: marshalling, spectating, servicing for friends and consuming every piece of rally media possible (as well as producing several pieces of my own).

I had to wait another 11 years, until 2019, to finally achieve the big dream: competing myself. Sadly, it wasn’t to be at Wales Rally GB, Rally Monte Carlo or any of the iconic races around the world, but at a single-venue rally held at the Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk. Still, it was a rally, and I put in an entry, so it was good enough for me.

I had actually bought my first rally car (a 1991 Ford Escort RS2000) back in 2012 from a good friend of mine. The idea was to make a couple of small changes and then just get out and do some events, but years of watching rallying and working on other people’s cars meant I had a very specific idea of what a rally car should 56 / THEIMI.ORG.UK

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be like. Those “couple of small changes” quickly turned into a total rebuild.

This work was, inevitably, still ongoing in the days leading up to the event. A snapped wheel stud caused headaches, and last-minute brake testing revealed a fluid weep from one of the front calipers. The offending connection was tightened, the car was put onto a hired trailer, and the (borrowed) service van was loaded up with tyres, tool boxes and spare parts.

The morning of the rally felt like something of a blur but, as I finally strapped myself into the car and headed for the start of the first stage, I managed to compose myself a little and thank my best friend and co-driver, Dan, for all of his help as we waited in line. Starting my first rally with my best friend beside me felt like a massive moment.

Strangely, I wasn’t really nervous about the actual driving. While we’d be using parts of the in-field and even going the wrong way around the circuit at times, Dan and I had done plenty of laps of

The car may have spent most of the day with the bonnet up, but that’s all part of the fun, right?

“ HAD THE MECHANICAL GODS BEEN ON OUR SIDE, WE COULD HAVE BEEN NUDGING THE TOP TEN IN OUR CLASS”

Snetterton, so were fairly confident we knew our way around.

Of course, our lack of rally experience showed immediately, but, in just a few metres, it became clear there was a bigger problem: the clutch was slipping.

There was always the chance of something like this happening with such an unproven car, and the six years spent tinkering, coupled with a modest budget, meant the Escort was something of a Franken-Ford, made up of bits of Escort and bits of Focus, along with a smattering of proper competition parts.

The problem got steadily worse and, within half a lap, we lost drive altogether and coasted gently onto the grass. At this point, many people would have started stamping their feet and throwing things around in a fit of racing driver rage but, strangely, I felt as though all of the stress suddenly melted away. I felt relaxed for the first time in weeks!

The first stage was run twice, so we had to wait to be recovered, but this gave us time to think through the problem and have a good chuckle at the ridiculousness of the whole situation.

We were back out there for stage three, but the problem wasn’t fixed. This time, we did at least manage to get back to the pits, where my friend Mat (who I have serviced for over the years) jumped into action, hanging upside down in the cockpit to remove the clutch master cylinder. He eventually diagnosed the actuation rod as the culprit. It had worked itself loose and was applying constant pressure to the release bearing, meaning the clutch couldn’t fully engage.

We’d missed stage four while the car was being fixed, but we were back out there for stage five. Sadly, that weeping brake connection reared its ugly head again, and it was nigh-on impossible to judge the braking points for each corner, so I spent a lot of time braking early to avoid going off and hitting something solid. Still, we had a working clutch and could finally start to put in some miles.

The penultimate stage of the day was our best, and we finally started to feel a bit racier. Even with the brake issues, we weren’t the slowest car in our class.

A sideways moment at one point had us laughing, but also showed that the car I’d nailed together on my driveway was actually easy to control on the limit, and a lot of fun to drive.

Unfortunately, our increased pace revealed one final flaw in our untested machine. The oil light started to flicker under heavy cornering loads and, while we could have risked it for the last stage, it wasn’t worth destroying the engine with nothing to fight for, so we decided to call it a day.

Despite all of the issues, we left feeling satisfied that, had the mechanical gods been on our side, we could have been nudging the top ten in our class. For a car with a totally standard engine and a crew with no experience, that wasn’t bad.

As any club competitor will tell you, the cost and commitment of racing can feel overwhelming at times. While I had grand plans to upgrade the car and continue competing, the stress and financial burden led me to sell it just a few months after the rally.

Still, I’d done it. I’d finally lived the experience I had been dreaming of for so many years. Doing the rally and, perhaps most importantly, sharing it with my best friends, was one of the happiest and most memorable experiences of my life. It may be my only rally to date, but I definitely have unfinished business. I’ll be back as soon as I can. I just need someone to lend me a Rally2 car and an unlimited supply of tyres and spare parts. Any takers?

— Jon Scoltock is a journalist and former automotive engineer — If you’ve had a journey that changed your life or made a lasting impression, email james.scoltock@thinkpublishing.co.uk to feature in our next edition ISSUE 19_MOTORPRO / 57

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How to opener, 1

VERSION

H2 WHOA! REPRO OP

There’s lots of talk about hydrogen power taking the place of EVs ten or 20 years down the line. How might that work in practice?

P70

SUBS ART PRODUCTION CLIENT

THE HOW TO SECTION Everything you need to know to do your job brilliantly, by the IMI’s expert contributors

P60_GET INTO GREEN REFRIGERANTS CO 2 is the enemy, right?

Well, not when it comes to air-conditioning.

In fact, the dreaded greenhouse gas might be a cleaner refrigerant than most HFOs

P62_LAND YOUR IDEAL FIRST JOB IN AUTOMOTIVE Taking your first steps into the industry after school or college can be scary. Here’s where to start looking for jobs, plus how to stand out

P63_PERSEVERE AND ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS Anybody got a New Year’s Resolution that’s still going strong?

Thought not... Here’s how to stick with your goals, even when the going gets tough

P65_INSPECT EQUIPOTENTIAL BONDING ON EVs Is that a blank look I hear? Equipotential bonding checks may not be common in the UK yet, but they could soon become a big deal

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VERSION

HOW TO...

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Turn that air-con system green

SUBS

Everyone knows that CO2 is a greenhouse gas, but could it also be an environmentally friendly refrigerant?

WORDS_HAYLEY PELLS CAE FIMI

ART PRODUCTION CLIENT

Refrigerants could soon be as important an issue as exhaust emissions for everyone in automotive.

These days, EVs are travelling further for longer, and heat is a real concern for the battery technology. Thermal runaway is the ultimate disaster, but it’s also worth bearing in mind that cooling the battery packs effectively will give a better service life and prevent premature degradation.

To assist with this issue, vehicles’ air-conditioning (AC) systems are becoming increasingly integrated with the high-voltage components.

This means that AC will soon become as important for EVs as the traditional oil change has always been for the internal combustion engine.

It’s welcome news if you’re in the maintenance sector.

So, what’s the problem?

The first problem with AC systems is that they aren’t truly sealed. Because the various gases need to be able to move around the system, unfortunately some will always be able to escape into the environment. The industry has traditionally used fluorinated gases, which are manufactured and don’t exist naturally. These pose significant risk to the climate.

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The move from R134a to R1234yf as the next generation of hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) refrigerants initially appeared to be the solution, as the latter meets the most stringent environmental standards.

It’s non-toxic, and it has a Global Warming Potential of just four (99.7% lower than R134a’s) and an Ozone Depletion Potential of zero.

As another HFO, it behaves very similarly to R134a in its function as a refrigerant and in terms of service and repair.

From a business point of view, the tooling and diagnostic equipment for both types of refrigerant are the same, reducing the outlay involved in introducing a new service offering within the business.

Qualifications are a legal obligation for those handling HFOs, and those obtained for handling older refrigerants also cover the newer R1234yf.

Although irksome, storing one more machine and a bottle of refrigerant has not been too onerous a task for most workshops.

The problem with R1234yf is that it’s flammable and still poses some environmental risks. As EVs become more reliant on their AC systems, this means that more vehicles will be losing around 10%

“AS EVs BECOME MORE RELIANT ON THEIR AC SYSTEMS, THIS MEANS THAT MORE VEHICLES WILL BE LOSING AROUND 10% OF THEIR HFOs EVERY YEAR”

of their HFOs every year.

Motorists have historically had the luxury of choosing whether to maintain their AC system, doing without if the vehicle was perhaps older or used as a second car, but the importance of AC to EVs will make these systems as essential as oil. And even with internal combustion engines, the use of R134yf has caused concern over fears of head-on collisions causing the gas to ignite if the system is compromised over a hot engine bay.

Due to the increased demand being placed on the AC systems, many EVs now come with an AC compressor which is not only a highvoltage item in and of itself, but is also water-cooled, often in a separate circuit to any water-cooling systems used for the high-voltage batteries.

And any high-voltage system requires the vehicle technician to be appropriately qualified and tooled. That has the potential to be a headache for existing AC technicians.

Could CO 2 be the answer?

We’re used to thinking of CO 2 as the enemy, so filling a vehicle’s AC system with R744 refrigerant – CO 2 if you dislike the numbers – might seem counterintuitive. But

Air con, 1 as a gas, it’s naturally occurring and doesn’t do anywhere near the environmental damage of a HFO. And anyone who has taken a look at their fire extinguisher will also know that CO 2 isn’t flammable – in fact, quite the opposite!

That’s another desirable attribute when considering an alternative refrigerant for a temperature-critical technology.

CO 2 also offers a range of other benefits as a refrigerant, including: • Low kinematic viscosity • Low dynamic viscosity • Small pressure ratio (~2.5–3.0) • Small volume

• Large refrigerating capacity per unit of volume • High thermal conductivity • High heat capacity at a constant pressure • Low surface tension • Easy to buy and inexpensive • Physical stability and safety • Non-flammable • More than 1,000 times less harmful for the atmosphere than R134a Making use of CO 2 isn’t necessarily breaking new ground. In fact, CO 2 is already deployed as a refrigerant on buses, coaches and some luxury cars. That said, challenges to its mainstream uptake in EVs would include the need for an entirely new

system, operating at more than ten times the pressure of conventional AC systems.

For example, the small size of CO 2 molecules and the high CO 2 permeability of conventional polymer hoses necessitate the use of metallic sealing rings and flexible, coated polymer hoses.

The second major difference occurs above an external temperature of around 25°C. Above this level, the R744 refrigerant can no longer be liquefied through cooling. In such conditions, the refrigerant must be continuously aircooled by the condenser (a gas cooler) accommodated

in the front end, near the coolant radiator. New components will be needed for this system too, such as an internal heat exchanger, often designed as an extruded aluminium counter-flow heat exchanger, sometimes embedded in the accumulator.

Finally, don’t forget that any shift to an R744-based system will require new qualifications, training and equipment. So even though R744 has major benefits as a sustainable refrigerant, the service and repair industry will need to commit to significant upskilling to make that a reality. If it happens, businesses and individuals will need to be ready.

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First job, 1 VERSION

HOW TO...

REPRO OP

Find your dream first job You’ve had a great time at college and learned a lot, but now the time has come to look for a job. So, where do you start?

SUBS

WORDS_LIBBY LOVICK

ART PRODUCTION CLIENT

If you’re currently studying an automotive qualification, the chances are that you’ll want a job in the motor industry at the end of it. But where should you start the search?

Well, there are a number of websites dedicated to exactly that. The likes of IMI Auto Jobs, GetMyFirstJob and Auto Skills UK are all great places to look.

But you don’t have to restrict yourself to those platforms.

There are an enormous range of recruitment websites and job listings sites to delve into, and you never know what you may find. Some of the biggest are Reed, Jobsite, TotalJobs and Monster.

If you’re looking to work for a particular company or brand, it’s best to go direct to its website. Chances are it’ll have a “Careers” or “Work with us” section where any vacancies will be posted.

And as an extra tip, store them in your favourites so you don’t lose them.

Get connecting Of course, your job search needn’t keep you chained to a computer. There are a number of ways you can

find a job through face-to-face interactions. This also has the advantage of allowing you to ask more questions to figure out if the job is for you and if you’re right for it. Some easy ways to network include:

find appropriate jobs for you.

Just search for “Recruitment agencies” online, and it should come up with ones local to you.

Your college’s careers adviser: If you’re studying at a college, you should have a careers adviser based on campus. If you don’t know where to find them, ask your tutor and start asking questions. It’s what they’re there for.

Word of mouth: It’s estimated that 60% of jobs are filled by word of mouth, so speak to friends, family, neighbours, local businesses – basically anyone you can think of – and let them know that you’re looking for work. You never know, your neighbour’s cousin’s husband might be looking for someone just like you!

Recruitment agencies: They’ll do some of the work for you. You may have to meet them first, tell them what you’re looking for and what your skills are, but then they’ll

Social media: It’s not just for selfies and sharing articles.

Start following companies you’d like to work for, because they will sometimes advertise vacancies online.

“IT’S ESTIMATED THAT 60% OF JOBS ARE FILLED BY WORD OF MOUTH, SO SPEAK TO FRIENDS, FAMILY, NEIGHBOURS, LOCAL BUSINESSES – BASICALLY ANYONE YOU CAN THINK OF ”

Stop the presses!

Local newspapers might sound like an old-school approach to job-hunting, but many employers still advertise in newspapers, so have a look before it gets put out for recycling.

And don’t forget – if you don’t ask, you don’t get. It’s always worth just trying your luck. Send emails or letters (including your CV) to companies, even if they’re not actively recruiting. It’ll show that you’re keen, and they might keep your details on file.

Or, instead of asking for a full-time position, you could try another tack. Work experience and temp work can both lead to permanent positions, and even if they don’t it’s good experience that you can add to your CV, making you more attractive as you continue your search. Good luck!

— Explore the IMI’s list of links to careers websites and manufacturer vacancies at autocity.org.uk — Libby Lovick is Student Member Engagement Officer at the IMI

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Stick with your goals Work can be tough sometimes, but if you have career goals in mind, you’ll need to keep going. Here’s how to push through

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WORDS_JAMES ELLIOTT

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Lots of my clients approach me wanting to talk about achievement, especially when the thing they hope to achieve seems so out of reach that giving up looks like the only sane option.

Whether it’s a distance they want to be able to run, or a promotion they want at work, or a particular financial goal, the spectrum of achievements and targets that I’ve covered with clients is as diverse as the people themselves.

What’s interesting here is that none of these achievers are superheroes. I’ve never been taken aback by their physical presence, their wit or their talent – and yet, of the people who come to me, the vast majority go on to achieve their goal.

What’s more, none of it was achieved using some outdated model of motivation, a cut-and-paste job from a textbook written before the internet existed. I don’t particularly believe in detailed goal-setting anymore (to my shame, I used to teach it to large groups). Instead, I talk about identity and having an identity that suits your goal.

Find yourself If you want to become a soldier, your head is shaved, you wear a uniform, and you are taught to walk and talk in a certain way. There is, of course, slightly more to it than

that, but it’s all intended to change your identity in order to help you achieve that goal.

So, what’s the one sure-fire way to help you stick to your goal? Simple: you need to enjoy it. All of my clients who have gone on to achieve their specific goals have enjoyed the process. They revel in the challenge and are excited by the prospect of adversity.

This isn’t some obscure form of self-harm, terrorising themselves to escape a trauma; nor is it an individual’s desperation for validation and extrinsic reward. No, this is about people who have learned to enjoy the process of working hard for something they want.

You see, the human brain craves a hormone known as dopamine. This craving can

make or break individuals, for a complicated set of reasons.

Those who may have lacked dopamine in their lives – as a result of, for example, growing up in poverty or having experienced abuse or poor health – are likely to have developed a more extreme set of behaviours in pursuit of that dopamine rush, and are far more likely to seek out instantaneous releases of dopamine.

Remember the old Haribo advert where they put a single sweet in front of a child and told them that if they could resist it for five minutes, then they would get the entire packet? The problem is that children will inevitably eat the one sweet: it’s right there in front of them and they crave it. It’s the same with adults

and alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and food. But it isn’t the substance itself that we’re addicted to – it’s the dopamine. Even now, I just chose to finish a Netflix series rather than write this article.

I went for the instant relief, so I must now suffer.

Wait for it...

Here’s the incredible thing about dopamine though: we get a far greater spike of it in anticipation of a reward than we do in receipt of it. We’re like children unwrapping presents at Christmas: desperate to get the paper off, only to feel slightly disappointed after. We enjoy anticipating the reward more than we enjoy the actual reward. We have evolved to embrace the process of working towards our goal.

So, what can we take from this? Well, we need to consciously acknowledge that the challenge is what we want, and that we actually enjoy what we do (or at least will enjoy where we’ll get to at the end of the process). Keep that in mind and you’ll never think about giving up again.

— James Elliott is a military mental resilience coach who has worked with the British Army on its OPSMART mental health programme and uses Instagram to deliver wellbeing videos @ jameselliottofficial

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It might be a term you haven’t heard of, but equipotential bonding could prove incredibly important as we head towards an electrified future WORDS_TOM DENTON FIMI

ART

Err, OK Google...

Define equipotential bonding PRODUCTION CLIENT

I recently made a new connection via LinkedIn: someone who had read my book Hybrid and Electric Vehicles. She is based in Austria and works for a manufacturer of diagnostic equipment for garages.

She pointed out that the topic of equipotential bonding (EPB) doesn’t appear in the book, and she was curious to find out why.

A good discussion ensued and, as with all exchanges between professionals, I think we both learnt something.

Of course, EPB isn’t something most people will have heard of, but it may well be worth learning about as our electrified future approaches.

What is EPB? EPB is the process of connecting metalwork

“EPB IS SOMETIMES SIMPLY REFERRED TO AS BONDING, AND IT’S COMMONPLACE IN DOMESTIC AND INDUSTRIAL ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS”

and electrically conductive parts so that the voltage is the same throughout (an equal potential). EPB is used to reduce the risk of equipment damage or personal injury. It’s sometimes simply referred to as bonding, and it’s commonplace in domestic and industrial electrical installations.

In the UK aftermarket, it isn’t yet considered best practice

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An EV system block diagram showing the main components and the equipotential bonding to the chassis

Drive motor

PTC heater Air -con pump

Chassis

to carry out an EPB check, but in some EU countries (including Germany and Austria, for example) it is.

So, should we be doing an EPB check after EV repairs or services in the UK too?

How does this relate to EVs? In the near future, all workshops and garages will have to deal with a significant number of highvoltage EVs. Guaranteeing the safety and reliability of high-voltage systems is something we will all need to become more familiar with.

To maintain safety standards, further training, qualifications and CPD will be essential.

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(That’s why IMI TechSafeTM exists – find out more by heading to tide.theimi.org. uk/imitechsafe.)

EVs use an insulated return system such that there is no connection between the high-voltage circuits and the chassis. As part of the start-up process (when the vehicle is switched into “Ready” mode), the onboard insulation monitor device is checked.

Some manufacturers also carry out the check during the vehicle’s operation phase.

If a failure of this monitor is detected, then the vehicle will not switch on. However, if an insulation fault occurs on a high-voltage component

that isn’t properly connected to the EPB system – the AC compressor, for example, or a heating device – then the insulation monitor will not be able to find and monitor this hazardous issue.

When repairs are carried out, an insulation resistance or isolation strength test of the high-voltage system should always be carried out. The integrity of the cables, including the braided shielding, is also tested. A value of 500V is often used for this test, but for some systems it is becoming necessary to use 1,000V, although this is not always available with some testers.

“IN THE NEAR FUTURE, ALL WORKSHOPS AND GARAGES WILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF HIGH-VOLTAGE EVs”

The AVL HV Safety 2000

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To date, here in the UK at least, equipotential bonding resistance tests between the components and the chassis have not been carried out as a matter of course, other than as a quick visual check.

The reason why all the components are bonded to the chassis is so that even if an insulation fault occurs, the potential voltage difference between all the main metal components will always be zero, so no electric shock will occur. In theory, this should never happen, so the bonding resistance test is a belt-andbraces approach – better safe than sorry, because the high voltages used can be fatal.

It’s also important to note, as mentioned previously, that a possible insulation fault can only be monitored if no EPB faults are present.

At this point, we should of course remind ourselves of Murphy’s Law: if it can go wrong, it will! One other thing to consider is that it’s becoming more common for technicians to demonstrate that certain tasks and tests have been carried out; for example, the re-calibration of the advanced driverassistance systems after a new steering component has been fitted. These checks or calibrations are now being specified as an insurance

industry requirement after major accident repairs have been completed. It’s possible that the same could go for EPB checks in future.

How do you know the highvoltage system is safe?

The vehicle runs through checks every time it is switched into “Ready” mode. However, a different standard is required when a technician is working on the vehicle. A trained technician will always carry out tests on a vehicle to make sure it is “made safe” or “de-energised” before any work is carried out which may involve the

This bonding strap connects the case of a high-voltage component to the chassis on a Golf GTE

high-voltage system, and will then carry out further electrical and physical checks during or after any repairs.

But how do you prove this has been done, particularly if something safety-related then goes wrong with the high-voltage system at a later date? Indeed, it’s worth bearing in mind that the isolation strength (insulation resistance) of some components can deteriorate over time.

For some organisations, particularly where insurance requirements are involved, these sort of measurements and records are becoming more and more important.

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For individual technicians, it’s also becoming important that they are guided through the tests so they can prove everything has been carried out and so prevent litigation.

Are there any regulations relating to EPB? UN regulation ECE R100 is titled “Uniform provisions concerning the approval of vehicles with regard to specific requirements for the electric power train”.

There are two main parts to this which relate to high-voltage safety. The specified equipotential bonding low-resistance requirements are:

Protection against direct contact

1. The high-voltage component and the vehicle body shall be less than 40mΩ; 2. The high-voltage component and an adjacent conductive part shall be less than 20mΩ; and 3. Two high-voltage components which are simultaneously accessible to a person and which are arranged at a distance of up to 2.5m in the vehicle shall be less than 100mΩ.

The requirement which is most important in the aftermarket, number three, specifies that the resistance

Equipotential bonding

between all exposed conductive parts and the chassis must be lower than 0.1Ω(100mΩ) when at least 200mA is flowing.

(To measure milliohms [mΩ], special equipment is needed, as a normal multimeter isn’t suitable).

So, to summarise, EPB checks are used to reduce the risk of equipment damage and personal injury from high voltages. Checking EPB can be more involved than it may at first appear, but with the proper equipment, suitable training and time, it can be very easy. It’s something we’ll pick up again in another issue of MotorPro.

Isolation resistance

“CHECKING EPB CAN BE MORE INVOLVED THAN IT MAY AT FIRST APPEAR, BUT WITH THE PROPER EQUIPMENT, SUITABLE TRAINING AND TIME, IT CAN BE VERY EASY”

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Hydrogen power WORDS_TOM DENTON FIMI

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Hydrogen is the simplest and lightest element in the universe, as each atom has just one proton and one electron. It’s also the most abundant element in the universe. Stars like our Sun consist mostly of hydrogen.

It’s a gas at room temperature, and it condenses to a liquid at -253 oC.

PRODUCTION CLIENT

Why is it described as an energy carrier?

Energy carriers are substances that store of energy in a usable form.

Hydrogen actually has the highest energy content of any common fuel by weight (about three times more than petrol or diesel), but it has the lowest energy content by volume (about four times less than petrol or diesel).

Where do we get it from?

Hydrogen is almost always found as part of another compound, such as water (H 2 O) or methane (CH4 ).

For use in vehicles, it must be separated out into pure hydrogen (H 2 ), whether that’s for use in an engine or fuel cell, or as storage.

There are several ways to make hydrogen, and more are under development, but the two main methods at the moment are: • Steam reforming, where a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and a little carbon dioxide is created by reacting the methane in natural gas with high-temperature steam.

The carbon monoxide is then reacted with water to produce even more hydrogen; and

For example, hydrogen can leak through steel.

Tankers can be used, but it’s first necessary to cool the hydrogen to a temperature where it becomes a liquid.

This process is expensive, but it does mean that hydrogen can be transported more efficiently. However, because it contains less energy per unit volume than petrol and diesel, transporting, storing and delivering hydrogen is currently more expensive than conventional fuels.

• Electrolysis, where an electric current splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. If the electricity is produced by renewable sources, such as hydro, solar or wind power, the resulting hydrogen can be considered renewable too.

Is hydrogen the fuel of the future?

Yes, but a hydrogen car uses about three times as much energy as the equivalent pure EV. This is because a significant amount of energy is needed to create the hydrogen in the first place.

More energy is then used in distribution. Converting it to electricity to power a vehicle uses energy too. However, hydrogen can be produced from a wide variety of sources, and once we are creating more clean energy than we can use, it could become an excellent storage medium.

How is hydrogen distributed?

The cheapest way to deliver large volumes of hydrogen is via a pipeline. However, this involves high initial costs, and hydrogen’s properties mean that there are technical challenges relating to pipeline materials and compressor design.

“BECAUSE IT CONTAINS LESS ENERGY PER UNIT VOLUME THAN PETROL AND DIESEL, TRANSPORTING, STORING AND DELIVERING HYDROGEN IS CURRENTLY MORE EXPENSIVE THAN CONVENTIONAL FUELS” 70 / THEIMI.ORG.UK

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What do the different colours mean?

Hydrogen is described using different colours.

These, along with their main means of production, are:

T A L K

Industry expert Tom Denton has penned numerous books, including Electric and Hybrid Vehicles. Visit tomdenton.org for more details

Green hydrogen Renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro etc.)

Battery storage

Water electrolosis

Hydrogen (and oxygen) for storage

Natural gas (CH4 )

Pipeline and compression

Steam reforming

Hydrogen for storage, CO 2 to capture

Blue hydrogen

Other types of hydrogen Grey: Same as blue but without the carbon capture

Pink: Electrolosis using nuclear energy

Yellow: Electrolosis using solar energy

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WHAT’S HAPPENING AT YOUR IMI? IMI PUBLISHES VEHICLE RECYCLING STANDARDS

The IMI has taken another important step in raising the bar for professional recognition in the automotive aftermarket with the publication of the National Occupational Standards for vehicle recycling The IMI is responsible for setting the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for all parts of the automotive industry. It has already set more than 20, providing a global benchmark for quality and professionalism.

Adding vehicle recycling to the list improves the overall image of the industry, helping to grow sales, reduce errors and accidents, and increase profits.

Developed by the IMI alongside key stakeholders in the vehicle recycling and insurance sector, the new standard focuses on the safe dismantling and depollution of all types of vehicles, which will be invaluable to the complete vehicle disposal ecosystem. It also covers the disposal of EVs as part of a genuinely futureproofed roadmap.

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Steve Nash, CEO of the IMI, said: “With sustainability now front of mind for all parts of society, there is a huge opportunity for those working with end-of-life vehicles to go a step further. Giving them the ability to demonstrate the high standards applied through all parts of their operations, the IMI has developed the new standards with a specific focus on the Vehicle Dismantler role, including depollution processes and the grading of the ‘green’ parts to be re-used.

“Crucially, we have developed these new standards in close collaboration with stakeholders such as the Vehicle Recyclers Association and the British Vehicle Salvage Federation, as well as employers, industry experts and other relevant

organisations to ensure that they’re fit for purpose for the current and future shape of automotive recycling.

Recognising the workload pressures within the sector, the standards have also been designed to be easy to train, as they can be adopted in bitesized modules.”

The NOS are used to help develop the qualifications used in apprenticeship frameworks in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, as well as featuring in the IMI accreditation scheme across the UK. The standards describe what individuals in a certain role should be able to do, and the knowledge they need. Employers and training organisations alike can use them to help design their in-house

training, on-the-job coaching or performance management systems. They also provide an important benchmark for employers when it comes to recruitment.

“Certification for Vehicle Dismantlers under the new NOS will provide a real opportunity to show pride in the industry, and at the same time improve the credibility of the sector,” said Nash. “Plus, when professionals have clear standards to operate within, the health and safety record of the industry as a whole will be improved.”

— To download the NOS for Endof-Life Vehicle Recycling, head to www.ukstandards.org.uk/ nos-finder and search for “vehicle recycling”

W E WISH TO EXPR ESS OUR DE E P E S T S Y M PAT H Y T O T H E F A M I L Y A N D F R I E N D S O F… Peter Bond AMIMI, Somerset, aged 76 Paul Glover AMIMI, West Yorkshire, aged 70 Malcolm Moore AMIMI, West Yorkshire, aged 73

TEAMING UP WITH THE MoD

Annual defence industry conference SupportNet made a physical return in April, with around 500 people in attendance – including the IMI. The event helps the UK defence sector understand its ongoing support requirements and spread awareness of the UK’s existing academic and commercial capability.

Everyone from senior leaders in the defence sector to frontline commands came together to discuss the future of defence.

“We’re incredibly proud to be joined by a range of professional bodies, which really signifies the strong partnership we’ve

developed over time,” said the MoD’s Ross Alden. “Those in attendance included the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, the Institute of the Motor Industry and the Energy Institute, offering expert advice and guidance to those interested in furthering their career.”

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS IMI-accredited Automotive Repair Systems celebrated 25 years in business in May. The business started in 1997 offering local dealerships a mobile dent repair service and has steadily grown to its current level, with more than 160 mobile SMART Repair technicians nationwide and offices in south-east London, Liverpool and Dubai.

Get in touch We’re always open and available to talk if you have any questions or queries. Get in touch with the membership or centre support teams on 01992 511521 or email hello@theimi.org.uk ISSUE 19_MOTORPRO / 73

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Dyslexia hasn’t dampened the IMI Student of the Year’s enthusiasm for a career in automotive, as she takes her next steps at Barnfield College REPRO OP

What inspired you to train as a technician?

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I attended an open evening at the college and had a look around the motor vehicle workshop. I spoke to the tutors, and my mum asked questions, but we weren’t too sure this was the course for me.

After attending three more open days and tapping into my love of motorcycles, I applied for the maintenance course.

I have worked on motorbikes from a very young age, and I’ve been to plenty of bike shows and races.

I really wanted a challenge.

I didn’t want to sit behind a desk forever, and given that I have a visual and hands-on learning style, I knew this was the place I needed to be.

Now that I’m a technician at Barnfield College, I enjoy working with the different types of learners, finding ways around the challenges they encounter and building up their confidence.

— How has your dyslexia changed your approach in the workplace?

I’ve had to adapt my way of thinking, revise everything all the time and go over things again and again until the light bulb finally comes on. I’ve had to practise practical tasks repeatedly and consolidate my learning in every way possible.

All that has meant some early starts and late finishes just to complete my assignments.

STARTING FROM THE BACK?

REVERSING IN

What are your thoughts on the gender imbalance in the automotive industry?

I’ve had to come in on my days off and then take little breaks to deal with headaches, eye ache and the frustration of not being able to process words in my head. I’ve had to write everything down, make little lists and take pictures of things while doing practical tasks.

—

parts of the curriculum, gave me presentation printouts and pointed me towards the course guides. The tutors also allowed me to work at my own pace and take breaks when needed. They even gave me the worksheets on green paper, which I find easier to read.

—

What has the college done to support you?

Do you support other students learning with dyslexia?

The college offered me extra support in the workshop and classroom by allowing me to join other classes on my days off. This helped me consolidate my learning, as I had to use my existing knowledge to explain tasks to the other students.

My tutors also adapted their ways of teaching to suit my learning style. They drew diagrams, broke down the key

Yes, many of the Level 1 and 2 students I work with have dyslexia. We have been working together to find ways to overcome the hurdles they face, and I try to explain the things they’re struggling with in a way that they’ll understand. No two dyslexics are the same, so the strategies we’ll need to put in place will vary from learner to learner.

MANAGEMENT SKILLS_P22 DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?

INSIDE AN INDEPENDENT_P30 PUTTING THE COMMUNITY FIRST

There are undoubtedly opportunities for women in the industry, but when 16% of employees in automotive are female and the other 84% are male, it’s clearly difficult for women to get a foot in the door. I applied for roles at main dealers, parts suppliers, garages and valeting companies over my four years of studying, and I didn’t once get offered an interview.

A lot of women attempting to be part of this industry change career paths because they’re not offered the same opportunities as men. One survey I saw suggested that 50% of women end up leaving the automotive industry altogether due to lack of promotion opportunities.

— What are your ambitions once you complete your studies?

I’d like to go from technician to tutor. My goal is to teach at Level 1 initially and then progress from there.

— Trinity Hutley is a student at Barnfield College and winner of this year’s IMI Full-Time Student of the Year Award. She has also received a Fellowship of the Motor Industry bursary

— To feature in our next edition, email james.scoltock@ thinkpublishing.co.uk

TECHNICAL WALKAROUND_P42 HONDA’S DOUBLE-CLUTCH WIZARDRY

THE DRIVE OF MY LIFE_P54

FINALLY LIVING THE RALLY DREAM

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MY MOTORI NG I N SP I R AT I ON