Oct. 13—SOUTH PORTLAND — A cavernous garage with cars hoisted on lifts on a recent weekday afternoon could be any auto repair shop.
This is different. The Southern Maine Community College building, just steps from Casco Bay, where ocean breezes blow through large open doorways, is a classroom where students learn how to repair electric vehicles.
On this particular day, they and their teacher, Ruth Morrison, were testing the lithium batteries that power EVs, technologically advanced machines that pose different challenges than mechanics face when looking under the hood of gas-powered vehicles . Students monitored data on a laptop connected by cable to a box next to the dashboard of a Chevy Blazer EV, recording the lowest and highest cell voltage, charging status and other information.
“It’s a whole new world,” said Cory McCulloch, a student who is a mechanic at a Kia dealership. The 16-week course from August to December is a chance to “take every opportunity I can get to understand the technology,” he said. McCulloch is one of six students in the class that draws engineering students, dealership mechanics and others interested in learning advanced auto repairs.
Fred Salianga, an IT specialist with a university degree in electrical and computer engineering, said he eventually wants to design software for automotive robotics. “I wanted to learn this part of electrical engineering,” he said.
For Aaron Jamison, an automotive technician at VIP Tires and Service in Lewiston, the decision to take the EV course was made for him. “The boss came in and said, ‘You’re going,’” he said.
Robert Kaffel, director of operations at VIP, said that of the 22 technicians at three shops in Lewiston and Auburn, four are qualified to repair electric vehicles. As many as 200 employees at the 74 VIP locations in New England are undergoing other training, he said.
EVs make up a small portion – less than 2% – of the cars on Maine’s roads, which are dominated by vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. However, the number is growing in response to state and federal subsidies and efforts to build a network of EV chargers. It’s all part of broader goals to reduce climate risks, in this case eliminating gas-powered cars from the market with their dirty tailpipes that produce nearly half of Maine’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection .
The SMCC course was the first of its kind in Maine when it launched in 2021. Students will learn to perform predictive maintenance, diagnose and repair hybrid and electric vehicles and be prepared to take the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence certification test for light hybrid and electric vehicle specialists.
EV repair courses were offered at Washington County Community College in Calais in June 2022 and at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor last fall, said Dan Belyea, chief workforce development officer at the Maine Community College System. Currently, there are 69 students enrolled in the three schools, he said.
Morrison said 20 to 25 students have taken the course at Southern Maine Community College since it started in 2021.
EV repair training at Eastern Maine Community College recently lasted seven months, with 16 students completing the training, said Michelle Bladen, senior administrative coordinator at the Maine Community College System. At Washington County Community College, 24 students completed a nearly two-year degree, she said.
Instruction is free for students, Belyea said. The state Community College System is spending $308,000 from the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan, which applied for funding from the federal pandemic-era American Rescue Plan, for equipment and salaries, he said. “The skin in the game is the student’s time,” he said.
The costs cover vehicles, instructor tools and teaching materials.
The operation of electric vehicles is also taught at the high school level, but this is limited. Mid-Maine Technical Center in Waterville offers high school students and seniors a two-year auto service program, with EV repair classes in the second year, said instructor Craig Smiley. The classes don’t delve deeply into EVs for several reasons, he said. For the most part, students are not interested in electric cars or hybrid technology. “They all want a vehicle that makes a lot of noise and runs on gasoline or diesel,” Smiley said.
“The general population we get wouldn’t care about anything to do with EVs or hybrids,” he said. “It’s outside their budget anyway. The hybrid and EV market is small here.”
Adam D. Lee, president of Lee Auto Malls, said dealers selling electric cars must have a certified technician or they won’t sell the cars. Automakers require their employees to undergo training, and they are better trained if they have already been introduced to EV repairs through a community college education, he said.
Technicians who can work on any vehicle — EV, diesel, four-, six- or eight-cylinder — are in short supply, Lee said. “Almost every dealer is happy to hire someone who has some training,” he said.
According to the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicle Registration, there are just over 16,000 battery EVs and plug-in hybrid EVs on the road in Maine. That’s more than double the 7,738 in December 2021, but just 1.3% of light vehicles on the road. “There are not enough EVs to support many engineers,” Lee said.
In the US, 3.3 million electric cars made up 1.1% of the 292 million cars on the road in 2023, according to Edmunds, citing a report from Experian. EV sales accounted for nearly 17.5% of revenue between January and May, the report said.
Sales are boosted by state subsidies of up to $7,500, depending on income, and a federal tax credit of up to $7,500 if the buyer meets income limits, the vehicle is made or assembled in North America and if the cost meets certain limits.
Although EVs avoid the stringent requirements of gasoline-powered cars, such as regular oil changes or exhaust system repairs, they still have brakes, steering, suspension and tires, says Morrison, the SMCC instructor. “Everyone needs work at some point,” she said. And hybrid vehicles have an engine that requires an expert technician to make repairs.
According to Edmunds, a vehicle with an internal combustion engine can have 100 times as many moving parts in the powertrain as an electric car. They all require repairs or maintenance, including regular oil changes and maintenance of belts, timing chains, spark plugs and other parts.
The U.S. Department of Energy found that maintaining an EV costs an average of 4 cents less per mile when all scheduled services are included, saving $4,000 for an EV with 100,000 miles, according to Edmunds. However, 100,000-mile service and other repairs and maintenance issues for gas-powered cars can be expensive. Replacing a catalytic converter costs about $1,300, ignition coils and spark plugs about $400 and a fuel injector for almost $450, according to CarMD.
Replacing the battery for electric vehicles is expensive. Federal regulations require EV batteries to have a warranty of at least eight years or 100,000 miles. Some manufacturers offer longer warranties, up to 10 years and 150,000 miles, according to Edmunds. Replacing a battery pack after many years of service and several hundred thousand miles costs between $5,000 and $15,000 and is comparable to replacing the engine or transmission in a gasoline car, according to Consumer Reports.
Morrison, who attended Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, became interested in working on cars with a 1974 Cadillac that was given to her. “I’d rather work with my hands than get a liberal arts degree,” she said. “I think I’ve found my niche in the EV field.”
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