Cars are getting more expensive, more complicated, and increasingly dependent on high-voltage electronics. That combination could create a problem nobody really wants to talk about: shorter vehicle lifespans. Bosch Mobility Aftermarket chief Rupert Hoellbacher has warned that keeping cars on the road for a long time will depend on making repairs economically viable, particularly as the industry shifts toward electric vehicles.

His comments to Automobilwoche come as the aftermarket prepares for a very different type of repair business. The basic idea is pretty simple. A car can technically last for decades, but that doesn't mean it will make economic sense to repair it for decades. Once a major component costs more to replace than the vehicle is worth, owners are far more likely to send the car to the scrapyard rather than pay for the repair.

And that's where EV batteries become particularly important. A battery is the most expensive component in an electric car. While battery failures don't automatically mean the entire pack needs replacing, the economics can still get ugly when a vehicle is older and out of warranty. Bosch itself points out that many battery problems can be addressed by repairing individual modules rather than replacing the entire pack.

The aftermarket therefore plays a big role. If independent workshops can diagnose, repair, and replace individual battery components at reasonable prices, an EV could remain useful long after its original warranty expires. That matters because an expensive battery shouldn't automatically turn an otherwise perfectly usable car into a very large paperweight.

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