College Group makes major investment in EV technology

Nelson and Colne College Group is investing almost a quarter of a million pounds in new equipment to train motor vehicle technicians and engineers in the latest electric vehicle (EV) technologies. 

The new facilities at the Accrington and Rossendale College campus will cover the servicing and maintenance of EVs, battery fault diagnosis and repair, electric motor technologies, and the installation of charging equipment.

Once the equipment is in place (early 2022), students at Accrington and Rossendale College will get the opportunity to work on electric vehicles, from EV battery faults to the installation of charging facilities.

The funding for this initiative has been provided from a government Skills Development Fund designed to support the move to greener technologies. Led by Blackburn College, the project will create five electric and hybrid vehicle skills centres across Lancashire at Blackburn College, Nelson and Colne College Group, Blackpool and the Fylde College, Lancaster and Morecambe College and Myerscough College.

Dr Steve Wright, EV project leader, said:

“I’m delighted to see the College making such a significant investment in this field.

“The roll-out of electric vehicles is crucial to meeting our country’s climate obligations and it’s vital that the technicians working with these new vehicles and their charging systems, are up to date and ready for the challenges of the next era of motoring.

“We’ll be using the new equipment to make sure that all of our motor vehicle students have experience of working with EVs. 

“Some of the new resources are very specialist and beyond the reach of smaller businesses.  We’ll be making them available to local employers to upskill their staff if they wish to.”

The new facilities build on existing equipment already in operation at Accrington and Rossendale College and Nelson and Colne College.

Find information on Motor Vehicle Courses available at Accrington and Rossendale College here.

Picture shows: Vehicle Maintenance and Repair L2 students Oliver Law and Byron Carney with Motor Engineering Lecturer Martin Brunker, at Accrington and Rossendale College’s fantastic workshop facilities.