📖 Yelp for Electric Vehicle Repairs (Idea #3)

⚾The Elevator Pitch

A website that provides the location, contact information, and reviews of independent electric vehicle mechanics

🤝Introduction

Electric Vehicles (EVs) have surged onto the scene in the past decade, capturing 14% market share of all new car sales in 2022. The growth of EVs is not slowing down either, as lawmakers and consumers alike continue to push for EVs over gasoline powered cars. In an attempt to regulate the emissions from gasoline-powered cars, states such as California are implementing laws that would require all new car sales within the next 10-20 years to be zero-emission vehicles.

When it comes to the repair and maintenance of EVs, less work is typically required (on average, EVs have half the parts of a gas-powered vehicle). However, as with any car, EVs are not indestructible.

Most EV manufacturers ask their customers to come to the dealership shop when repairs are needed for a few reasons. One reason is money: these companies can charge money to repair the EVs they sell. But secondly, and perhaps more importantly, EVs are just so different than gasoline powered cars, and most independent mechanics do not have the right tools or skillsets to fix EVs properly.

How will this market change over time? We are willing to bet that the prominence of EVs will require the outsourcing of repair work to independent mechanic shops who will need to acquire the tools and skillsets to fix EVs in order to stay in business. As a consumer and probable future EV owner, you will need to know which EV mechanics you can trust, and we believe this idea fits that need.

 💡The Idea

If Yelp met EVs. The idea is to make a website that lists the location, contact information, and reviews of EV mechanics. Beyond that, it will provide crucial and specific information that EV owners would need to know (such as specialty and focus area) about the various mechanics in order to choose the right shop.

You may be asking: Won’t this just be a part of Yelp/other review sites one day? Why is a specialized site required? Two reasons:

• In an emerging industry, expert and specialized reviews and information are required. Most independent mechanics will be learning on the fly as they begin to service more and more EVs. They may choose to specialize in a specific EV brand (i.e. Tesla) for instance, or may be unable to work with specific parts of EVs.

• The website can also function as a way for EV owners to learn more about what type of repairs and services their EVs will need, and this will help point them in the direction of the appropriate mechanics.

Lastly, this website can serve as a place where mechanics looking to get into the EV repair space can come to find certification resources along with information on the investment required to be able to service EVs.

👷The Work

The work for creating this website goes well beyond setting up a Squarespace/Wordpress account and buying a domain, or even just hiring a web developer to create a website similar to Yelp. It requires a deep understanding of the repair and maintenance process for EVs, the certifications and work histories that make someone to be a qualified EV mechanic, and much more.

Beyond that, it is a sales job. If your website is going to be the face of the EV repairs market, you need to be able to contact independent mechanics and determine their qualifications to perform EV repairs. Eventually, you will want to let businesses set up their own pages on the website, but in the beginning, you need to ensure customers are recommended to mechanics that know what they are doing.

To execute on this idea, it would make sense to start in a heavy-EV market (ex: California) and pick a subset of that area where you can source all independent EV mechanics. Once you have your area, start with a subset of ~15-20% of the EV mechanics you find reputable, and work to get them listed on your website. You then can drive (no pun intended) people to your website through SEO and marketing, and send leads and potential customers to the mechanics listed on your website.

Over time with success, other EV mechanics will realize they need to be on your website, and you can allow them to set up their own business pages.

This process can be repeated in others markets as the site expands nationwide.

💸The Finances

Initial startup costs will most likely include:

• Development (Website Build)

• Marketing (SEO, Advertising)

• Sourcing (Finding reputable mechanics)

• Manpower (Blogging about EVs, repairs, and how to become a certified EV mechanic)

The good news is, unlike Yelp, which generated 96% of its revenue in 2020 through advertising, the initial revenue streams for this website could be much more balanced. Early revenue streams could include:

• Lead Generation Fees (i.e. charging a % fee for each customer you send to your early EV mechanics)

• EV repair and maintenance guides and courses for car enthusiasts

• Partnerships with EV repair certifications and courses.

  • I.e. you direct mechanics looking to acquire the new skillset to these courses/certifications

👍The Good Stuff

• Grow with the market – As of 2019, only 1.4% of automotive service workers were certified to service EVs. As that number increases, so can the growth of your website.

• Simple Business Model – If you can provide quality and reputable content for EVs, and can rank high in search, you will be able to churn out advertising revenue that can be reinvested to expand to new markets.

• Current Competition – Search “EV mechanics near me” in google and try to find a list of 5 mechanics that you would feel comfortable bringing your EV to. You most likely won’t be able to. This emerging market has been lost in the minutia of the existing review websites, and no specialized resources exist currently.

👎The Risks

• Manufacturer Domination – As we mentioned previously, most EV manufacturers do repairs and maintenance at their existing dealerships. It is possible that this trend continues and independent mechanics do not get into the EV repair business, rendering this business obsolete.

• Future Competition – As the EV market continues to expand, websites such as Yelp and Google Reviews will list EV mechanics and over time add specialized information to match what this website will have.

• Technical Expertise – Operating an EV mechanic website requires in-depth knowledge of EV technology and repair procedures. You need to ensure that you and your team possesses the necessary technical expertise to provide a high-quality service.

📚For the Road

• An EV Mechanic Shortage Is Looming, But Nobody Knows When It's Coming

• The future of the auto industry is electric. Will mechanics be out of work?

• Building Yelp. A history lesson on how to launch a major tech company