On your daily commute, you probably see numerous electric vehicles (EVs) on the road, even if you don’t know it. Once novel and prohibitively expensive, EVs have become far more mainstream in recent years. Technological advances, along with the entry of more manufacturers into the EV market, have made these vehicles accessible to a larger audience. With more people ditching the gas pump and going all-electric, North Carolina is facing a need for more EV mechanics and engineers. As community college educators, we’re in a unique position to prepare students for success in a rapidly changing automotive industry while fueling the expansion of sustainable driving in North Carolina.
Electrifying growth
When considering the necessity of EV education, it’s important to note the growth of sales over the past few years. According to the International Energy Alliance, nearly one in five cars sold in 2023 was either fully electric or a plug-in hybrid. In the United States, we saw 1.4 million new electric car registrations recorded in 2023, an increase of more than 40% compared to 2022.
Like many other drivers across the country, North Carolinians have also been embracing EVs. The North Carolina Department of Transportation recorded over 90,000 zero-emission vehicle registrations (including both electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles) as of April 2024. With so many EVs on the road, and many more to come, we’re seeing an increasing need for mechanics trained to repair EVs, as well as those trained in EV charger system maintenance. Our state is entering a new era of driving, and we need to be ready.
Charging up curriculum
In order to meet this need, Blue Ridge Community College carefully assessed current programming and the expansions needed for the future. Some of these improvements were made possible by a $367,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission as part of the “Expanding Electric Vehicle Infrastructure in Western NC” project. This grant enabled us to purchase two fully electric vehicles for training on our Henderson and Transylvania campuses and to invest in professional development for our automotive faculty.
We also began a series of community partnerships with the North Carolina Business Committee for Education, the STEPs4GROWTH project, several businesses, and other colleges like Wake Tech. These collaborations have been mutually beneficial as we share the common goal of increasing the number of trained EV professionals in North Carolina.
“Blue Ridge Community College has been involved in the alternative transportation sector for quite some time; however, there has been a resurgence in the EV sector over the past couple of years,” said Joe Shook, Blue Ridge’s dean of advanced technologies. “We have come alongside other community colleges and higher educational partners to be proactive in this effort. In conjunction with support from our automotive and utility industry partners, new advancements in training and coursework have been and are being developed to meet this need.”
Sparking student success
With real EVs on campus for our students’ training, we’re able to provide hands-on experiences that will give students an advantage when entering the workforce. We had the same goal when we hosted the Land of Sky Clean Vehicle Coalition’s Electric Vehicles Workforce Development event, where our automotive students got up-close access to electric vehicles, as well as an eAxle (a component of an electric tractor trailer), locally made by Cummins-Meritor. Students also heard talks from local business and community leaders in the energy and automotive industries that illustrated the goals for EV expansion in North Carolina and the many accompanying job opportunities.
“The Transportation Technology programs at Blue Ridge have a large base of support from our local automotive industry partners within our region,” Shook said.
Most mainline automotive manufacturers have electric vehicles within their retail offerings, and that number continues to grow with newer models. Although most dealerships require technicians to receive factory training to work on EVs, programs like those at Blue Ridge and other community colleges give students an advantage by strengthening their knowledge base prior to entering the workforce. The more emphasis we can put on these programs, the more our students can achieve in this growing industry.
To this end, Blue Ridge requires all students pursuing our A.A.S. Automotive Systems Technology degrees, as well as those in our Light-Duty Diesel diploma program, to complete a course in Electric Drive Vehicles. At this point, it’s not a luxury for mechanics to know how to work on EVs — it’s a necessity.
“The more mainstream EVs become, both students and technicians will need to be versatile in both fossil fuel vehicles and EVs,” Shook said. “Spreading awareness, and especially providing training opportunities, is paramount in their success moving forward.”
This is an exciting chapter of our state’s history. With decades of experience in providing support to the automotive workforce, community colleges are poised to play a crucial role in expanding EV infrastructure throughout North Carolina. With so many opportunities ahead for our students, let’s keep the energy going.
