Foster City, California, builds electric chassis for Type A school bus builders Collins Bus and Trans Tech. Motiv also fabricates all-electric chassis for me- dium-duty commercial vehicles. It is also developing training programs for electric vehicle maintenance. “We are rolling out accessible, inclu-


sive training programs to train new and retrain current workers,” said Jim Castelaz, Motiv’s founder and chief technology officer. “There is defi- nitely an increased demand for these types of jobs. We find the majority of technicians are excited to learn about electric buses, and they learn quickly. Many successfully apply the skills and intuition they have built servicing fos- sil-fuel vehicles into electric vehicles, processes for troubleshooting, and the use of many similar tools for replac- ing parts, for example. With electric vehicles, they will spend more time on diagnostics software and less time worrying about fluids, but it is a skill set that they recognize as useful as ve- hicles generally become more electric.” Electric vehicles are a new technol-


ogy, and it can be expected that many training programs will develop at community college workforce devel- opment programs as well as vocational tech training schools. This is likely to bring a new skill set to technicians who are ambitious and motivated to work on the latest technology that electric vehicles represent. Mike Roeth, the executive director


of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency, said he expects a new wave of technicians with EV skills to permeate the market in the near term, as more electric vehicles in many different settings become the norm. “There will be a multitude of new


technician skills and service tools to be developed and bought,” suggest- ed Roeth. “Electrification and other new technologies are attracting some amazing talent to our industry. We see that in the engineers and others de- veloping these vehicles, up and down the entire supply chain, and we expect this will attract more truck drivers and technicians to our industry. This is


very exciting and real. We will need very geographic-specific support in the EV truck and bus deployment areas and then expand as the sales increase. This will be a combined effort by the manufacturers, dealers, fleets, trade schools, and more.” Eric Foellmer, the director of market-


ing at XL Fleet in Boston, Massachusetts, a leader in connected fleet electrification solutions for commercial and munici- pal fleets, is quite aware of how big the transition from gas and diesel power to electric propulsion will be. “That’s why we’ve developed hybrid and plug-in hybrid solutions to help stakeholders across the fleet ecosystem, including mechanics and technicians, to drive this transition,” he said. “As the transportation industry slowly evolves to adapt to an all-electric future, these stakeholders have to realize that hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles will remain an integral part of this transformation, while helping to accelerate the indus- try’s shift towards full electrification.”


Workforce Development Programs Emerging? Electric vehicle maintenance for school buses will likely follow the lead of many other fleet operators that already operate electric vehicles. Concurrently, heavy-duty trucks are increasingly electrified. Fleet operators of such vehicles will face the same maintenance challenges when they are widely adopted in the trucking indus- try. In addition, many municipal fleets already have electric vehicle fleets. But there are plenty more electric vehicles expected on the road. This is leading to workforce development programs sprouting up at community colleges to train workers to take jobs in the emer- gent electric vehicle industry. Brett Pope, the director of electric


vehicles for Volvo Trucks North America in Greensboro, North Carolina, said that training programs are already develop- ing. He cited Volvo’s interaction with community colleges to establish work- force development programs to train mechanics. “Training programs have already taken


33% Readers with electric


vehicles in their fleet that required the purchase of new garage equipment (i.e., new door to fit them in the garage) for the electric vehicles. (Out of 6 responses.)


19% of respondents are interested in


purchasing electric buses. (Out of 99 readers who don’t already have electric vehicles in their fleet.)


Top Reasons Electric Buses Are Not Purchased:


65% Upfront cost of vehicle


53% Infrastructure cost


32% Geography/ climate


27% Other (range, no state approval, proven


record of diesel, lack of standards.)


22% Terrain


21% We use other alternative-fuel vehicles that we prefer (Out of 98 readers. More than one answer possible. Total does not equal 100.)


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