Over the past year, McCarthy Panel Works has been looking ahead and preparing for the influx of electric vehicles into Australia by planning and starting the development of a new electric (EV) and hybrid vehicle repair centre. The business, which has been servicing the Mackay community for more than 50 years, recently announced it is to receive $50,000 in State Government funding to assist in the completion of its new venture.

While some of the required equipment and tooling – including new car-o-liner products – has been purchased and is being installed, the grant from the Government Business Growth Fund will help in the acquisition of more specialist equipment enabling new EV repair services to be offered to customers within the next six months.

All EV and hybrid vehicle makes and models will be able to be repaired at the new centre, including those from Tesla – the largest-selling EV brand in the country which sold more than 12,000 cars in Australia in 2021.

Speaking at an event to announce the funding, McCarthy Panel Works co-owner Andrea McCarthy said that the business had set course on developing the new repair centre more than a year ago and the team were eager to bring the new repair services to Mackay.

“We are so passionate about bringing this to our local region that we are already well underway with this project,” she said. “And we are excited to announce that we are going to be a Tesla repair centre for our region. We have already sent some of our guys away for the training, and they are all very excited.”

Asked whether there was much of a requirement for an electric vehicle repair centre, Andrea said that an understanding of the direction in which the automotive industry was heading, and preparation for that future, had encouraged McCarthy Panel Works to make the investment and apply for the grant.

“I know that Tesla is the fastest-growing electric vehicle company. I know that it is mandated that all the manufacturers have to have their own electric vehicle models,” she said. “We know that this is coming. The question is how prepared can we be? We are well on our way.”

Speaking of the funding, Andrea said that it was heartening to see others recognise the road that lay ahead for the industry and that assistance was there.

“The grant process made available to us really helped us to identify and focus in on the direction we wanted to go,” she said.

“It is really encouraging for us to know that others can see how passionate we are about what we do and the need to do it right.

Minister for Employment and Small Business Di Farmer said the Business Growth Fund was about helping small businesses reach the next phase of their development journey, and the grants of up to $50,000 were for highly specialised equipment that will help businesses boost their productivity, give them the confidence to scale-up and grow their workforce.

“Across Queensland, the Fund will support 40 small businesses to accelerate growth opportunities with investments in everything from flight simulator equipment to irrigation systems,” said the Minister.

VIDEO: MACKAY SMASH REPAIRS BUSINESS RECEIVES FUNDING TO BUILD AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE REPAIRS FACILITY

Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (March 2022) 

23 March 2022