lectric vehicles (EVs) are rolling into dealer showrooms at a roaring clip. It’s estimated that EVs will make up around 30% — about 4.7 million units — of new passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030. Like any other vehicle, all those EVs will have to be detailed easily, efficiently and safely. Meeting that need are new low-rise portable lifts designed specifically for working on EVs.
Because detailing a vehicle by hand can cause muscle and joint pain in backs, elbows and knees, detailers who want to work smarter use portable car lifts. Using a low-rise lift places a vehicle at a comfortable working position so you can detail it more ergonomically, including sitting on a rolling work seat instead of stooping or kneeling on the ground.
Using a portable lift also lets you
remove the wheels to get full access to the wheel wells, brakes, shocks and suspension components. And it eliminates any concern that bumping or shaking could cause a vehicle to come off a jack stand.
But lifting electric vehicles, especially luxury EVs, can be tricky. The high voltage battery under the vehicle takes up a lot of space, pushing lifting points out toward the extreme edges of the vehicle frame. Many EVs also have extremely long wheelbases that put their lifting points completely out of reach of many existing lifts.
But new dedicated portable lifts designed for electric vehicles are now available. This type of lift boasts extended frame lengths to handle extremely long wheelbases. That means virtually all EVs, including luxury electric vehicles with lift points that run to the extreme edges of the vehicle frame, can be detailed on one of these portable lifts.
The extra-long frames of these lifts can provide a range of lifting points from 47.5 inches to 76 inches, which will accommodate sedans as well as light trucks. Top specs to look for from a portable EV lift include a compact, open center design for full access to the vehicle’s undercarriage. Lifts with cantilevered frames won’t rub against the vehicle’s tires as they rise.
Other key portable EV lift features to consider include:
• Pendant controls for one-handed operation.
• Dual-position automatic mechanical safety locks.
• Built-in hydraulic flow divider to ensure the frames always lift evenly.
• Durable urethane wheels to ease rolling the unloaded lift around the shop.
• Collapsible to facilitate storing on a wall or under a toolbox.
