Photo credit: www.SchoolBusFleet.com
As electric vehicles continue to become more mainstream, so too are electric school buses.
That means school districts and others need qualified technicians to work on them.
To help meet that demand, American River College is partnering with the Twin Rivers Unified School District to create an electric school bus repair program that high school students can take for credit at the college.
The Twin Rivers Unified School District received a grant for 16 electric school buses in 2017. Tim Shannon, the district’s director of transportation, met with Craig Weckman, department chair of collision technology and diesel technology at American River College, to discuss how to deal with a lack of technicians well-versed in electric vehicle maintenance coupled with an increase in related job opportunities that looms on the horizon.
“We need to drive that portion of the industry along with the acquisition of electric school buses,” Shannon told Schoolbus Fleet. “Since there are very few people who can work on them, as they start [retiring] and we get more [electric buses], we are going to need qualified technicians.”
Shannon and Weckman previously worked together on alternative fuel technician courses at Highlands and Rio Linda high schools. They knew they could have another success with the electric school bus curriculum.
The new program, which includes 16 hours of hands-on training, will cover basic electricity fundamentals and use go-karts to help students understand how electric vehicles work.
“Electrification is being mandated in the transportation industry,” said Weckman. “Training will be an important part of being prepared and accepting the impending changes.”
In addition to the student courses, the California Energy Commission has provided funding for American River College to host train-the-trainer sessions on electric school bus maintenance for high school teachers and community college faculty. Funds will also be used to purchase additional equipment and add hydrogen and lithium-ion batteries into the curriculum.
