A diagnostic tool can look convincing on a comparison sheet. It reads the codes, displays live data and claims coverage across hundreds of models. None of that tells you how often it will help on an ordinary Tuesday in the workshop.
The person using it matters first. A tool may expose an EV system fault, but acting on that result can require training, experience and procedures the workshop does not yet have. The sensible purchase question is not simply What can this tool do? It is What work can our team carry through from diagnosis to a safe, completed repair? Applicable requirements also depend on where the workshop operates. NSW Fair Trading provides one example of how EV repair rules are still developing.
The purchase has to fit the business as well. Australia’s DRIVEN rebate program, for instance, covers eligible EV charging units and EV-specific workshop equipment under different conditions and limits. For a workshop planning an investment, whether a device qualifies, how it is documented and what it costs after any rebate are practical product questions, not footnotes to the specification.
Then there is the tool a year from now. Which of the vehicles actually coming through the door does it cover well? How quickly does coverage change when a new model arrives? What happens to the useful functions if the subscription ends? Those answers deserve a demonstration and written terms, not a headline vehicle count.
I would choose the tool that fits the work the shop is ready to do, then ask what it will take to grow into the next job. A longer feature list is useful only when the people, workflow and ongoing support are there to make use of it.