Cars Running On Power

[stawka]

Guys i have a question for you people. I got a job as a mechanic apprentice and i start tomorrow. My dad is pushing me not to do it and get into something else because of the money and future. When do you think motor cars will be phased out and replaced with electric cars? What will happen to motor mechanics then.... Give me your honest opinion before i screw my life over and get into an industry that wont last!!!

[VB-]

i wouldnt be too worried about the cars being phased out, they will still be around for more than the next 40 years (your working life) although i love cars i didnt go into that industry because the money isnt so good, its pretty dirty work (not a real big issue) and theres so many of them around, which makes it harder to find work, and will keep the pay rates low IMO.

i personally am doing my boilermaker apprenticeship atm, because i dont mind fabrication and its something i wanted to learn, if i was to do anything else, probly plumbing (good conditions, pay etc).

the other thing is, all my mates that have become mechanics, they've all lost the passion and cbf workin on they're own cars, and as a guy that i work with told me 'working on cars is my hobby, i'll do it when/how i want to' and it makes sense to me. obviously you wont be pro right away, but i've found theres always plenty of people out there to help/show you things, and i've learned alot of things this way

that said your starting tomorow so do it and see what you think of it, if you like it, stay with it. just find something you enjoy and the money will come

[[200]]

Why do you want to work on cars?

Did you do your HSC?

[stawka]

Well i did my plumbing pre-apprenticeship at the start of the year, but i had 2 operations on my right knee late last year. It hasn't healed properly and i don't know if it ever will, and i cant fully bend down because it feels like it's about to f**king explode. I thought go do another trade, but didn't know what because Air Con's/Sparkies/Plumbers/Carpenters are constantly on their knee's. Mechanics/Panel beaters aren't, but the money's f**ked!

[BNR32t]

be an electrition... wont have to worrie + better pay.

[stawka]

I would but my knee is still f**ked man. I don't know if it'll ever get better, if it did - i would be doing my plumbing

[BNR32t]

sorrry when i posted that you hadn't relpied...

Edited September 30, 2007 by BNR32t

[stawka]

I seriously need some f*kin good advice. I'm almost 23 getting depressed lol

[BNR32t]

Try for the AFP...

[[200]]

Its a shame about your knees!

[stawka]

After 20 minutes of depressing thoughts, i think i will just go into the workshop tomorrow, and embarrass myself by telling the boss i'm backing out for certain reasons. Next step: working out my knee overtime and starting plumbing by the end of the year. f**kin digging my ass off, and f**king my knee harder for my first year... how exciting!

[philta]

dw mate. their is a thing called economic engineering. basically all cars "in general" are designed to last 20 years. As for electric cars, the process of making the Li batt on a large scale is still expensive to be widely used in automotive industry. its still too heavy and inefficient.

my advice is focus on the electrical side of things to the automotive industry as everything is becoming automated.

[Spunky Munky]

The only downfall I can think of is the fact that the authorities are so strict now on modified Sports cars... so if you're a mechanic in general I wouldn't worry; but if you are in modification of sports cars... there may be a downfall here.

Cheers,

[adam-__-]

See how today goes and if you enjoy the work, continue, but I personally wouldn't mix my hobbies with my work.

[DECIM8]

heres another bonus .. lose ur licence .. lose ur mechanic licence. hope u dont like speeding.

[scathing]

My dad is pushing me not to do it and get into something else because of the money and future. When do you think motor cars will be phased out and replaced with electric cars?

Is your dad a tree hugging hippy with a severe reality disconnect?

The state of electric cars right now is shit. Most of them have a really shit range, and because electric motors lack the power / energy storage capacity they have to be made light. Which, for a budget car, means flimsy.

The only production pure electric car out there I'm aware of is the G-Wiz, and when their crash test results look like this:

There was an interview in last season's Top Gear with Kirsten Scott Thomas, who owns a G-Wiz, and she said that the electrical system in the car's so pissweak that you can't use the wipers and headlights at the same time. With that kind of "safety", I don't think internal combustion is going to be in any danger in the near future.

If you have a look at the future of automotive energy sources, you'll see that only a few people are trying to go pure electric. Most are either looking at biofuels, or hydrogen. Both are still internal combustion, the only difference is the fuel used. The basic principles are still the same. In this day and age, you can't expect that you only need to learn 3 years' worth of knowledge and expect it to last you to retirement.

[mad082]

u can still work as a mechanic and not have a licence. my mate is a mechanic and he lost his licence for 3 months.

as for the money, it isn't that bad. it just depends on where you work. my mate was only getting paid for hours booked (not a set amount of hours per week) and he was making about $1000 a week. there are a lot of jobs with less pay than that, retail for example. full adults wage of just over $500 a week for 38 hours.

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

I'm now going to give you the best advice anyone will ever give you...

DON'T BECOME A CHEF!

[skybarge]

what about an auto electrician?

They get paid about the same as mechanics, in some cases more

Do an apprenticeship

basically start off with the small stuff, installing alarms, stereos, speakers etc

Then you move onto wiring up engine looms, powerFCs etc

Then you get to go into tuning them eventually

I reckon do that, that'll keep your dad quiet about the "electric cars" thing, because you'll be positioned to move straight onto those if that ever becomes common place over the next 20-30 years, which somehow i doubt at the moment, but I could be proven wrong

[Stinky Rooster]

what about an auto electrician?

They get paid about the same as mechanics, in some cases more

Do an apprenticeship

basically start off with the small stuff, installing alarms, stereos, speakers etc

Then you move onto wiring up engine looms, powerFCs etc

Then you get to go into tuning them eventually

I reckon do that, that'll keep your dad quiet about the "electric cars" thing, because you'll be positioned to move straight onto those if that ever becomes common place over the next 20-30 years, which somehow i doubt at the moment, but I could be proven wrong

^^ +11ty

most sensible post yet IMO.

DEFINATELY go with the sparky side of things. Its less dirty, alot more technically challenging and the sparking side of things is becoming more and more a "black arts" area which means more specialization and higher charge rates.