The FutureTech Auto Blog


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​Las Vegas, NV – Electric, Hybrid, and Fuel Cell Vehicle technology firm FutureTech Auto (FTA) will be conducting two 8-hour training events in Las Vegas, Nevada to coincide with SEMA and AAPEX. These training events are scheduled for October 31st and November 4th focusing on Service Advisors, Electric Drive Systems, High Voltage Battery Installation and, targeted diagnostic processes.
 
These training events serve as the official kick-off of the Access Brand powered by FutureTech supporting training and education. Access is committed to providing technology and training delivered in a way that is comprehensive and accessible to everyone currently or planning to service vehicles with Electric Drive technologies.
 
“Access powered by FutureTech has a unique approach”, Says Dr. Mark Quarto, Chief Technical Officer of FTA, “we provide technical training solutions for management, support teams, and technicians”. Dr. Quarto recognizes that the needs of Service Advisors have been overlooked specific to supporting Advanced Vehicle Technologies.  “If your business has made an investment in technician related training as well as tools and equipment, now it’s time for your service advisors and managers to receive training on how to interface and sell advanced technology vehicle services to customers that own these cars. NOW is the time to fill that void”.
 
The Aging process of an Electric Drive System begins with the Battery Pack so “when your customer brings the car in for a perceived high voltage battery problem, why don’t we find out if the battery needs to be serviced at all”, Dr. Quarto states, “and if it does, the Battery Testing and Installation training provides the technician with the skills to confidently do it economically for both the shop and the customer”.
 
These 8-hour events, which will be held at Frank’s European Service in Las Vegas, are only a preview of what Access has planned for 2017 and beyond. Access brand has management and technician training courses scheduled in key locations throughout the U.S. market. The initial 2017 training schedule will be posted and accepting registrations beginning August 30th, 2016.
 
“This is about accessibility and ease of application for all global businesses”, says founder Don Burton. “Access and all brands powered by FutureTech are focused on assisting automotive businesses in making their transition into servicing advanced technology vehicles that use electric drive systems”.  “FTA’s scalable solutions make it easy and possible for all businesses to enter this growing market” states Mr. Burton.
 
As an ongoing commitment to the market, FutureTech and Access have made available complimentary webinars each month, cost effective training classes, and varied technical events to support the needs of service and maintenance businesses.
 
Customers with high interest in participating in this event can review course outlines and register for these invitation only training events in Las Vegas, by visiting futuretechauto.com/vegas-training. Frank’s European Service is located at 1931 N. Rainbow Blvd, Las Vegas NV 89109.
 
 
FutureTech was founded in 2015, and has a combined 70 years’ experience in developing and delivering Advanced Vehicle Technology solutions. By understanding that the industry is composed of many equally important pieces, FutureTech can deliver multi-faceted solutions to automotive service shops, fleets, distributors, manufacturers, educators, and more. FutureTech meets the demands of today's automotive service professionals while developing tomorrow's advanced technology solutions. For more information, visit http://www.futuretechauto.com

​If you are a technician that is or will be working on advanced technology vehicles (i.e., hybrid, plug-in hybrid, extended range electric, or battery electric vehicles) Lithium battery technology may be something that you need to devote some additional attention.  Service managers should also become comfortable with knowing the higher level aspects of vehicle Lithium systems technology to make it easier in conversing and recommending servicing options with the vehicle owner. 

As the advanced technology systems continue to penetrate the market in higher volumes, the Lithium family of battery products becomes the choice of manufacturers that have entered the market in the past 6 years, due to its superior energy storage capability.  Lithium products are manufactured with two basic formats – cylindrical and pouch.  The cylindrical battery (typically an 18650 cell) is slightly larger than a AA battery and the pouch style cell can be manufactured in many different size configurations, dependent upon application.   Unlike the current Nickel Metal Hydride (NIMH) that dominates the advanced technology market, Lithium technology has numerous chemistry and family categories.  Each of these categories offer varied capacity and power characteristics.  The primary families utilized in the automotive or medium/heavy duty market as of today are Lithium Cobalt Oxide, Lithium Manganese Oxide, Lithium Manganese Cobalt Oxide, Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt, Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum, Lithium Iron Phosphate, and Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum .

​Each of these Lithium family chemistries can have very different delivery of its capacity and power.  The electrolytes are/can be significantly different, although each uses Lithium Salt as a basic element.  Each may have different additives in the electrolyte that mitigate aging, reduce the possibility of a thermal event (fires) with fire retardants, and permit enhanced performance, etc. 

With six basic Lithium chemistries currently used in the market, it is essential that technicians understand the differences between the technologies and how each will react when testing the vehicle and how this relates to any associated diagnostic trouble codes and testing procedures.  When working with the Lithium families of battery chemistries and performing testing (such as) Stress Testing, battery pack rebuilding, or battery systems testing it is critical that technician’s know which Lithium technology that is being used in the vehicle and the associated voltage level.  For example, when working with the Lithium Manganese battery family, the associated diagnostics and any Stress Testing would result in data that (when viewed) is different when compared to a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery chemistry.  The difference between these two chemistry examples is, the Lithium Manganese families have a very linear discharge voltage data when compared to Lithium Iron Phosphate chemistry that has nearly flat discharge voltage data.  This means battery capacity may or may not be easily interpreted by using Scan Tool data unless a technician or service manager is aware of the differences between the Lithium families.  Therefore, knowing how specific battery chemistries behave is critical in knowing how to interpret Scan Tool or off-board discharging equipment data.
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The bottom line to all of the differences in Lithium chemistries is for the technician to know what to expect with viewing Scan Tool or off-board equipment data and how to interpret this data when testing the battery system, whether the battery pack is installed in a vehicle or it is on the bench.

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Dr. Mark Quarto, Chief Technical officer of FutureTech, has been invited to deliver the keynote speech at the annual Mobile Air Conditioning Society Training Event & Trade Show in 2017. The event will be located in Anaheim, California on February 15-18. 

MACS has themed the event Global Service Horizons, stating that it "emphasizes that changes are in the air for service shops with a new refrigerant and new automotive technology impacting mobile A/C service and repair methods". Dr. Quarto will be speaking of the future of Hybrid, Electric, Fuel Cell, and other advanced technology vehicles. 

​Many thanks to MACS for the invitation. See you in Anaheim!

FutureTech's Training and Knowledge-Base subsidiary, Access, will be providing training on HEV Systems to the Illinois Chapter of the Automotive Service Association. The event will take place on Sunday, September 18th, 2016 from 9:00AM - 12:00PM  at the ASA CAN Conference. What the participants will be learning: 

​Prospective participants should contact show and training organizers for registration information. 

FTA's inaugural news posting begins with a bit of fluff and a shout to Frank's European Service in Las Vegas, Nevada, who has placed our banner in the state-of-the-art repair shop and training space:

The team at FTA would like to thank Frank Scandura and his team for their continued support! Frank is an independent business coach at Elite,  Senior Digital Shop Advisor and Trainer for AutoVitals, author of How To Take Care of Your Vehicle So It Will Take Care of You, and much more.

Connect with Frank on LinkedIn