The automotive industry places high demands on translators. Tight deadlines and strict legal constraints keep service providers on their toes. The development of e-mobility presents translation professionals with completely new challenges, but it also generates exciting new fields of activity.
Sometimes you can’t help but be a little jealous of English speakers. Original terms for new phenomena emerge astonishingly quickly in English. Concise, illustrative, instantly comprehensible. “Range anxiety” is one such neologism. The term describes the concern that the electric car’s charge may not last until the next charging station.
Now, try translating that elegantly into German! “Reichweiten-Besorgnis” perhaps?
The development of electric mobility and connected car services comes with new terminology. In light of the vast amount of neologisms, the fact that the decades-old power rating HP is increasingly being replaced by kW and kWh is a minor issue. Professional translators are accustomed to newly emerging terms, but in these cases, glossaries and term databases are extremely helpful.
However, these seven developments in the automotive industry have a much greater impact on translation:
Challenge #1: E-mobility generates new narratives
The narratives that shape marketing and advertising vary as much as car brands and types. The narrative of the driving experience, for instance, involves high performance data, finely staged top speeds, and, last but not least, a rich sound. Other narratives may target family appeal by focusing on storage space over aerodynamics.
Sustainability is currently experiencing a surge in popularity, a narrative that tends to be a footnote in combustion engines. This definitely calls for transcreation in the translation process, because the priority and understanding of sustainability are not the same in all societies. Some things that are taken for granted in this country need to be explained in more detail in other markets. Furthermore, sustainability may not be a particularly strong argument in some markets, and the messaging must be adapted accordingly. This is a task that requires close collaboration between marketing and translators.
Challenge #2: New technologies require new expertise
In addition to possessing excellent command of their respective languages, professional translators also need to be experts in their respective subject areas to a certain extent. The technology in electric vehicles (and hybrids) differs massively from that in combustion engines. Translators are therefore required to build up technical expertise in this area.
It will be interesting to see how AI translation tools deal with this topic. If the combination of machine translation and human post-editing becomes viable, the effort required for the latter is likely to increase for a while.
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Challenge #3: Electric mobility triggers new regulations
People working on professional translations in the automotive industry are used to having to comply with numerous laws, regulations, and standards. Electromobility is adding a lot to this area.
One example is the EU Battery Regulation. It introduces a whole range of new requirements for labeling, information, and documentation that must be available in all official languages of the European Union. This includes warning labels and recycling instructions on batteries, the EU declaration of conformity for CE marking, and, starting in 2027, a digital battery passport containing technical specifications and other data. This means a lot of work in terms of translation and localization.
Challenge #4: Charging infrastructure also needs translation
The touchscreens of public charging stations must be available in multiple languages. Instructions, troubleshooting, and payment processing must be easy-to-understand for all drivers. The installation, maintenance, and troubleshooting instructions of private wall boxes also need to be translated. In addition, there is a need for localization within charging control apps.
Challenge #5: New mobility, new languages
Just a few years ago, Chinese cars were completely unknown in Europe. Since a significant proportion of automotive trade flows have reversed, translation from Chinese into European languages has also become more important. And here, too, cultural adaptation is key: Asian UX concepts, for example, sometimes differ significantly from European ones. Another challenge is technical documentation, which is sometimes structured completely differently.
However, electromobility is also expanding markets that were previously rather insignificant. Especially, low-cost vehicles are conquering Southeast Asian and African markets, but also India. This is also increasing the
Challenge #6: Software localization surpasses hardware documentation
The good old user manual for vehicles may not die out, but it will certainly lose importance. The future lies in continuous over-the-air documentation updates. The agile translation processes into numerous languages that go hand in hand with this trend and with user notifications will probably be the task of AI – but teaching it the language is a job for professional translators.
That being said, localizing user interfaces and the user experience is definitely a job for human translators. This process involves details such as different text lengths as well as the cultural adaptation of icons and menu navigation. What people consider intuitively comprehensible can vary greatly between different language areas.
Challenge #7: Translation errors involving electric cars are life-threatening
With electromobility, the automotive industry is moving into the field of high-voltage components, which require special safety instructions. Moreover, there are first responder guides for emergency services and workshop documentation for non-certified personnel.
Consequently, translators must be thoroughly familiar with specific standards such as UN ECE R100 or ISO 6469. And they must assimilate a new dimension of responsibility for their work.
