What the EV Mandate Rollback Means for Auto Repair
Craig Van Batenburg has been in the hybrid and EV world for decades, and he spends his days training technicians how to safely work with high-voltage systems. Craig says tire dealers need to take the politics out of the EV conversation and focus on what really matters — caring for customers and their vehicles.
MTD Columnist Craig Van Batenburg says tire dealers need to operate and offer repair services to customers in all sectors of the vehicle world, and that includes EVs. The rollback of California’s EV mandate doesn’t change that there are EVs on the road and Van Batenburg says once customers invest in an EV “90% stay that way.”
The U.S. Senate has rolled back California’s electric vehicle (EV) mandate — so what does that mean for tire dealers amping up their EV service business? Craig Van Batenburg has been in the hybrid and EV world for decades, and he spends his days training technicians how to safely work with high-voltage systems. Craig says tire dealers need to take the politics out of the EV conversation and focus on what really matters — caring for customers and their vehicles.
Joy Kopcha joined Modern Tire Dealer and Auto Service Professional as senior editor in 2014 after working as a newspaper reporter for a dozen years in Kansas, Indiana and Pennsylvania. She was named managing editor of MTD and ASP in 2022, and took on that same role with Motor Age in 2024.
She is an award-winning journalist, including in 2023 when she was named a Jesse H. Neal Awards Finalist.