Winter weather an opportunity for collision repair shops to further ensure customer safety
By onAnnouncements
As motorists endure a winter cold snap this week, AAA has shared some tips on what to do to winterize vehicles, including emergency kits.
A storm that swept 1,300 miles from the Plains to the East Coast in the past week, dumping several inches of snow, has mostly ended but dangerously cold temperatures are now in the forecast.
The National Weather Service forecasts a winter storm that will produce snow, rain, and freezing rain over parts of the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley today into Friday. Light snow will fall in parts of the Upper Midwest today. Snowfall totals will be the greatest, 4 to 8 inches, from portions of North Texas across Arkansas into the Tennessee Valley, according to the forecast.
AAA recommends motorists have the following items in their cars during the winter:
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- Car cell phone charger
- Drinking water
- First-aid kit
- Non-perishable snacks for both human and pet passengers
- Bag of abrasive material such as sand, salt, or cat litter or traction mats
- Snow shovel
- Blankets
- Extra warm clothing including gloves, hats, and scarves
- Flashlight with extra batteries
- Window washer solvent
- Ice scraper with brush
- Cloth or roll of paper towels
- Jumper cables
- Warning devices such as flares or triangles
- Basic toolkit that includes screwdrivers, pliers, and an adjustable wrench
Easy and relatively cheap options for repair shops to include in a kit could be a first-aid kit, a flashlight with extra batteries, an ice scraper, a cloth with shop logo, and some basic tools. The kit could also include this checklist from AAA that details maintenance items motorists should complete to prep for winter weather, such as battery and charging system, fluids, drive belts, and more.
Shops could also be of added assistance to customers by checking tire tread and pressure as well as the operation of headlights, tail lights, brake lights, turn signals, emergency flashers, and backup lights.
When it comes to electric vehicles, shops could also educate customers on how winter prep differs compared to gas-powered vehicles. For example, tire condition and pressure are even more essential for EVs because of the added weight of their batteries, oftentimes adding 2,000 pounds to the total weight.
“Overwhelmingly the calls we get for EVs are tire problems,” AAA Spokesman Robert Sinclair told New York-based PIX11 News. “Tires are critical to EVs since they are extremely heavy because of all the batteries.”
According to AAA Northeast, vehicle batteries lose 30% of their power when the temperature outside falls to 32 degrees. At zero degrees, batteries lose 60% of cranking power.
Sinclair said EV owners need to charge their vehicles when parked for extended periods to help maintain battery health and prevent range loss, according to PIX11 News. He also recommends using heated seats or a heated steering wheel instead of the cabin heat because warming an EV creates a significant drain on the battery.
Collision repair shops can provide those tips to customers and remind them to keep their gas tanks as full as possible to reduce the risk of moisture freezing fuel lines.
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