Greg Jones, longtime mechanic at San Francisco’s famed Luscious Garage, wrote the book on hybrid repair — literally.

Jones recently shared that knowledge with instructors and staff from City College of San Francisco and nearby George Washington High School.

With funding provided to CCSF through the California Energy Commission, Jones lead a three-day training session on campus just prior to the start of the fall semester. The training was drawn from his decades of experience working on hybrid vehicles. At Luscious Garage, he is responsible for maintenance and repair of San Francisco’s hybrid taxi fleet. Read More →

Instructors in Chabot College’s Hybrid and Alternative Fuel Vehicles program are ready to teach their students the latest technology thanks to training from one of the industry’s leading professional development providers, and funding from the California Energy Commission.

Chabot faculty attended multi-day training sessions held throughout the summer. Topics covered included:

• Diagnostics equipment
• Scope testing
• Converter/inverter operation
• Battery health testing
• Toyota Online Information (TIS)
• Common Prius issues and diagnoses

Read More →

Over the summer, Copper Mountain College Automotive Technology Instructor Paul Friedt traveled across the country to attend the six-day “Up Your Voltage” training course on hybrid vehicles in Seekonk, Massachusetts.

The training, organized by the Automotive Career Development Center (ACDC), is described as an “immersive boot camp.” It was limited to 16 participants and included the opportunity to work with 10 different hybrid and electric vehicles models ranging from the Chevrolet Volt to the Toyota Highlander. Read More →

An Area Leader Making Its Programs Better

Saddleback College is already known as a leader in its area for alternative fuel vehicle programs. It is now using ATRE-CEC funding to make those programs even better.

National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Odyssey Day

In April, Saddleback College hosted National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Odyssey Day in an effort to educate the community about the positive impact this technology has on the environment.
Some of the vehicles on display included a hydrogen bus, a diesel fire engine, Tesla Model X, Hyundai IONIQ 300, among others. More than 300 people turned out for the event. Read More →

Meeting Critical Needs of Municipal Transportation Systems

The Southern California Regional Transit Training Consortium (SCRTTC) is a non-profit organization comprised of transit agencies, community colleges, universities and private industry partners.
The SCRTTC recently facilitated California Energy Commission (CEC) funding in order to provide training to transit employees across the state, meeting some of the most critical needs faced by municipal transportation systems. Read More →

A Slightly Different Approach with Funding

While many of the ATRE-CEC grants focused on alternative fuel technology in consumer vehicles, Hartnell College located in Salinas and the Salad Bowl of the World is taking a slightly different approach with its funding.
The college’s Agricultural Business and Technology Institute faculty are expanding the focus to also include farm equipment, buses, trucks, and other heavy-duty vehicles. Located in the heart of an agricultural area, the college estimates more than 800 job openings in this field each year. Monterey County is also among the top counties in the U.S. for hybrid vehicles, with more than 1,500 registered as of 2012.
Read More →

2017-18 Auto Tech Club Officers

Meeting the Need…

Silicon Valley is ripe for an increase in alternative fuel vehicles and people to service them. De Anza College is well on the way to meeting that need thanks in part to ATRE-CEC funding.
The college has offered courses on hybrid vehicles since 2007 as part of its Advanced Automotive Technician Certificate of Achievement, but struggled to purchase equipment to keep up with new vehicles as they entered the market. ATRE-CEC funds were used to purchase a Chevy Volt, a Nissan Leaf, and a Ford F-550 heavy duty CNG truck. Read More →

Los Angeles TradeTechnical College has offered courses in hybrid and alternative fuel vehicle repair since 2005 — long before such vehicles were mainstream.

The college will now use ATRE-CEC funds to enhance its 12-credit Hybrid & Plug-in Electric Vehicle Technology certificate. Read More →

A growing High Desert population and an increase in hybrid vehicles establish the groundwork for a new 13-credit certificate program at Victor Valley College beginning in Spring 2018.

The College hopes that the program will serve as the basis for a new career pathway that will allow students to make a living wage in an area that’s still reeling from the Great Recession. The automotive industry is one of the few industries growing in the High Desert region, and will continue to expand as consumers shift toward more environmentally friendly vehicles and face longer commutes. Read More →

Funds used to support a new course for the Alternative Fuel Vehicles Certificate

Recently awarded ATRE-CEC funds will be used to support a new course that’s required for the Alternative Fuel Vehicles Certificate at Copper Mountain College (CMC). CMC will provide additional funding to further support the effort. Read More →