Auto repair students at Brockton High School can learn how to repair electric vehicles

BROCKTON — Brockton High School’s auto repair department is getting an update on clean energy and battery power.

As Massachusetts plans to transition away from gas-powered cars over the next decade, Brockton High is introducing tools and equipment into its automotive technology classrooms to educate students on how to work with electric vehicles.

The basement of the BHS Fine Arts Building houses a full-size auto repair shop with two elevators and a handful of students who learn to service real cars.

“Electric vehicles are the future,” said Enrique Cruz, a BHS senior and automotive technology student. “If you want to get into this industry, you have to learn it.”

The program trains students in key automotive repair skills, from wheel axle mounting to interior air conditioning systems and engines. Thanks to new grants from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, their training will include electric cars.

“This will help me continue to learn and be able to do more in the future,” Cruz said.

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BHS students and staff can bring their cars into the school garage, and auto repair shop students will be provided free oil changes and other services. The new equipment will enable students to work with electric engines, not just gas-powered ones.

“This program is going to be amazing,” said automotive technology teacher Wayne Denham, who has been in the automotive engineering industry for about 30 years. He added that the funding will “breathe a completely new life” into the program.

“They all want to learn and are good at it,” Denham said. “They want newer things.”

The future of clean energy

According to Katherine Antos, undersecretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environment, the state must add 34,000 clean energy jobs by 2030 to meet its climate goals.

“This is the moment we are in,” Antos said, speaking to a large audience at BHS Friday morning during an event celebrating the new addition to the school’s automotive program. “We need to provide resources to support this interest.”

As the state looks to get more electric cars on the market and on the road, BHS students can get ahead of the curve by learning how to work with electric car engines before receiving their degrees.

Denham said the introductory skills students learn in the first two years of school – such as alignment under a car – will be largely the same for both types of cars, but the new tools will “take on the character of electric vehicles.” “

He also said the program already educates students on the basics of electric vehicles, but now he can dive deeper into the electric car portion of his coursework.

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The state is already working to convert yellow school buses from gas to electric, said Robin Sidman, founder and executive director of Project Green Schools. She said these new grants, which amount to more than $600,000, will “drive the next generation of excitement” and “put students at the forefront” of the electric vehicle movement.

“You’re going to need that pipeline,” she said. “This will help create the future workforce to fill these positions.”

“I would definitely like to make a positive impact on the world,” Cruz said.