As questions about the environmental condition of our planet continue to echo and reverberate around the world, automakers are finally realizing that these concerns are going to revolutionize their industry and have (belatedly) begun making vehicles that recognize this. Although, electric vehicles and hybrid gas-electric cars are by far the dominant response to these concerns today, hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicles offer advantages over these.

The first hydrogen fuel-cell production vehicle, the Honda FCX Clarity, is now on sale (or rather lease) in areas of southern California. These vehicles run on hydrogen-powered fuel-cells that allow them to have a longer range than electric vehicles and also to fuel up much quicker (a charge for an electric vehicle usually takes over an hour if not much longer).

The question is how will this impact the auto repair industry. These cars, like the electric cars that are only now starting to filter into your local auto shop have significantly different components and engines. Up to this point, they are primarily serviced by the dealerships of the manufacturers who have produced them. This is obviously a concern for private auto repair shops like Fort Collins Foreign Car Service that provide repair advice for most American auto owners.

If your local auto shop goes out of business, and you could only get repair advice from the dealership what would that do to the costs of auto repair in general? We can only imagine that decreased competition would lead to higher costs. We’re not economists, but we think we have a strong grasp on this basic concept.

So, the question remains. Can auto technicians gain the experience and knowledge necessary to allow them to continue to operate as independent operators of your local auto shop? Or will they all be swallowed up by the dealerships? This question is yet to be answered, but we know that we will be keeping up with our education in order to best service and understand these new vehicle types into the future. We hope to be providing honest repair advice and services well into the future, whether we’re working on an old Honda or a futuristic hover car.