Integrating Electric Vehicle Technology in Legacy Automotive Programs

Tennessee ranks first in the Southeastern United States for electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing, with more than 162,000 electric vehicles manufactured in the state since 2013. General Motors and Ford have both announced major new investments in EV production in Tennessee since 2020. As EV technology continues to advance at a rapid pace and the number of electric vehicles on the road continues to increase, it will be necessary to establish multiple training programs throughout the state, including stand-alone programs and those that are integrated into legacy automotive programs.

This will address the growing need for EV maintenance and repair technicians statewide and beyond. Northeast State Community College has trained automotive technicians for more than fifty years, enrolling an average of sixty students each year in its Automotive Service Technology program. This project will study the effectiveness of and document the unique challenges associated with integrating EV technology into a legacy automotive training program.

Outcomes of this effort will include faculty professional development, a job skills analysis, and curricular revisions, all of which will improve outcomes for students in this high need area.

Northeast State will leverage existing relationships with industry partners and a recent partnership with the National Electric Vehicle Consortium (NEVC) to secure faculty professional development, conduct a job tasks analysis to identify critical EV maintenance and repair skills and competencies, review existing EV maintenance and repair curriculum, develop curriculum to address gaps, pilot the curriculum, and conduct targeted recruitment to increase representation of women in the program. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the Nation's economy.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.