🔩 Glue is why small hits total EVs

A new report on car adhesives shows where the industry is headed. The fastest growing use for glue is not paint or trim. It is EV battery packs. Epoxy holds the battery modules in place, acts as electrical insulation, and helps move heat away from the cells.

That build method changes the repair math. A modern battery pack is sealed shut rather than bolted together, so you cannot open one, look inside, and seal it back to factory spec. When a car takes a small hit near the pack, the insurer cannot confirm the pack is safe. They replace the whole thing, and on many EVs that costs more than the car is worth.

Why it matters: Bonded repairs need real equipment. You need controlled curing temps, the right primers, and OEM steps down to the width of the glue bead. A spot welder will not do it. Shops without that gear lose the work to certified shops and dealer networks. Windshields show the same pattern, since urethane-bonded glass holds up the roof in a rollover and a bad install breaks a safety system. Think about which of these jobs you want to keep in house and which you want to send out.

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GM and the U.S. Army run a program called Shifting Gears, which started in 2014 and just hit about 1,000 graduates. The program runs 12 weeks and mixes classroom, online, and hands-on training on GM vehicles. It costs the service member nothing. Students finish before their separation date, so they can start at a dealership the week they leave active duty.

The program solves two problems at once. NADA says the industry needs to replace almost 76,000 techs a year while trade schools graduate about 39,000, leaving a gap near 37,000. On the other side, Pew Research Center found only one in four veterans has a job lined up when they leave the service. The program used to take only service members with mechanical experience, but now it takes any Army specialty.

Why it matters: You are hiring from the same thin pool as everyone else, and this pool is different. The training manager pointed to one former combat medic with zero car experience who earned Master ASE in two years and landed a six-figure tech job. Veterans show up with work habits most shops spend years teaching, and the technical skills you can train. If you have not tried recruiting from a nearby base or a transition program, it may be worth a call.

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Copart is buying ACV in a cash deal worth about $1.9 billion. ACV runs a dealer-to-dealer wholesale marketplace where dealers buy and sell trade-ins and off-lease cars with clean titles. It also builds inspection and pricing tools that grade a car's condition in minutes.

The reason is growth. Insurers total a set number of cars each year, and that number barely moves, so Copart cannot grow much past it. ACV opens a much bigger pool of vehicles. Copart's CEO calls the goal an end-to-end remarketing platform. The deal should close by the end of 2026, and ACV keeps running on its own for now.

Why it matters: If you buy parts cars or inspect used vehicles for customers, this touches you. ACV's condition-grading tech may end up in Copart's salvage listings, where damage disclosure runs uneven today. Better data means fewer surprises after you win a bid. It also means one company now sees a car from trade-in through total loss, which gives them a lot of pricing power over time.

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🛡️ SEMA's second ADAS Symposium brought automakers, safety researchers, and repair groups together to talk about gaps in calibration rules and a new bill on how modifications affect ADAS.

🏢 Genuine Parts Co. shared more details on splitting into two public companies by early 2027, with NAPA staying under the GPC name and a new CEO.

⏱️ Hunter Engineering's Speed Theory workflow lets one tech run a tire changer and a balancer at the same time, which the company says cuts tire service times by more than 40%.

📦 Customs officers in Norfolk seized 1,043 radiators worth more than $110,000 after they found the shipment came in under two stolen American identities.