SRP donates hybrid car to Mesa Community College for auto program

Salt River Project recently donated a 2017 Ford Fusion electric vehicle to Mesa Community College for the School’s Automotive Services Program.

The $15,000 donation from the local utility will be used for MCC’s intensive Introduction to Electric and Hybrid Vehicles course in the first week of May. This four-day course will give students a chance to practice and learn how to service an EV before the semester ends.

Although the vehicle is a hybrid and not full-electric, students still stand to learn many lessons from this intense four-day course. Kate Kochenderfer, senior director of supply chain, transportation and flight services at Salt River Project, spoke on how this collaboration came about and why Mesa was the choice for the donation.

“SRP donates vehicles to different trade schools, community colleges, and any programs that helps give back to the community,” Kochenderfer said. “So SRP and MCC have a partnership for SRP’s mentorship program. Part of the reason we’re donating the hybrid vehicle is to help the MCC start on their electric vehicle training program.”

There are many differences between working on an electric vehicle and working on a gas-powered one. As electric vehicles become more common in Arizona, it becomes important for those working in automotive services to have the training and skills necessary to work on those vehicles.

Bryce Bond, chair of Applied Sciences and Technology Department at MCC, explained how working on an electric vehicle is different and what his students will need to learn in order to pass the four-day course.

“The course is eight hours of work a day, so it’s pretty grueling. We’re doing safety, we’re doing batteries. We’re putting in new batteries, removing them, tearing old ones down. We’re teaching them to understand concepts of everything in the car, from how it propels down the road to the converters. Anything they need to know about the car, we’ll discuss and talk about, so we can get them prepped and ready for work.“ Bond said.

One example of a technological difference between an EV and an internal combustion-powered vehicle is how an EV can charge itself when it is slowed, Bond said.

“Most electric or hybrid vehicles have a thing they call (regenerative) braking,” he said. “The engine or the motor will slow you down versus the traditional braking system, so there’s less maintenance involved. This one being a hybrid, you’d still need to do oil changes. But once you get to a pure EV, there’s no oil change.”

MCC Student Charles Spencer said it’s important for him to know how to service an EV in his current field. While factory repair is usually what comes to mind for doing maintenance on EVs, an auto repair shop will soon be needing employees to be able to work on EVs as they become more common in Arizona.

“As electric cars become more popular, there aren’t that many people out there who know how to work on them. So getting the instruction on how to work on them is beneficial to me, because it will allow me to help other people who don’t know how to work on them. This gives me more opportunities for jobs as well,” Spencer said.

For Spencer and his fellow classmates, that knowledge could prove invaluable in the future.