Automotive Engineering - March 2024 - 8

TECHNOLOGY REPORT
EV WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Program to train EV charger techs graduates first class in Detroit
Officials from SAE International,
ChargerHelp, Detroit at Work and more
partners gathered recently to celebrate
the first graduating class of a new training
and certification program for electric
vehicle supply equipment (EVSE)
technicians and discuss the importance
of these jobs amidst the ongoing push
for electrification.
The program is the first of its kind
and teaches safety above all else while
focusing on seven domains of theoretical
and practical knowledge. The SAE
Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment
Certification will be granted to participants
who complete a certified course
and pass a standardized test administered
by SAE ITC Probitas. The Detroit
participants have completed the
coursework and will sit for the certification
exam. The exam rolls out nationwide
in April.
The event was held at Michigan
Central, the 30-acre innovation zone
that reclaimed the former Detroit Book
Depository and turned it into a sleek,
tech-friendly startup incubator. Clarinda
Barnett-Harrison, Michigan Central's
director of skills, lauded all members of
the partnership for working to ensure
opportunity for all. " As technologies
continue to evolve, especially in black
and brown cities, the people in those
cities are often not part of that experience, "
she said. " And they're not able to
take advantage of economic opportunities
that come with the advancement of
Teams of
EVSE trainees
complete
a capstone
project prior
to graduation.
Graduate
Marcus Long
presented his
teams look at
the state of
charging in
Detroit.
that technology. "
To qualify for the four- to six-week
program (depending on class frequency
- coursework is 120 hours), aspiring
technicians must live in Detroit, have a
high school diploma or GED and be able
to read at a ninth-grade level. The course
is offered at no cost to the participants.
Fifteen people graduated from the initial
class, and the program hopes to train
100 more before the end of the year.
Michael Paras, SAE manager of business
development, partnerships and
sales, outlined what drove the organization
to take part in creating the certification
standards. " The industry wants a
mechanism for certifying that technicians
possess the requisite skills and
knowledge to be working on EVSE [electric
vehicle supply equipment], " he said.
Frank Menchaca, president of SAE
Sustainable Mobility Solutions, emphasized
the need for thousands of techniSAE
International's
Michael
Paras
said that
the training
program - and
the need for
curriculum
and testing
requirements
- are meant to
directly address
the industry's
need for new
workers.
8 March 2024
cians. He also said the organization envisioned
an upwardly mobile series of
jobs beginning with the EVSE techs.
" We think about this certification training,
we hope this is step number one,
and the scaffolding career where people
can come in from nontraditional
backgrounds, and learn this, then take it
to the next step, whether it's software
or what have you, we see a pathway in
new energy vehicles. Because it is not
just in the charging stations. Instead, it's
the whole infrastructure, they filter out
to support that. And we're going to
need people to work in these jobs. "
Marcus Long, a graduate of the first
class, presented his team's capstone
project, which was a survey of the
charging landscape in the city of
Detroit. The team found chargers in a
variety of conditions, from pristine and
working to non-functioning and even
potentially dangerous. " Just the other
day I went to three different locations
and none of them worked, " he said.
That is not terribly surprising, as recent
studies have said that at any given time,
up to 30% of public chargers in America
aren't functioning.
Long said he was driven to go into
the business for two reasons: The employment
opportunity but also the
chance to be working in an industry
that is helping fight pollution - which
disproportionately affects minority
communities. " I want to be part of making
the world better, " he said.
Chris Clonts
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
BOTH IMAGES: SAE/CHRIS CLONTS
Automotive Engineering - March 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive Engineering - March 2024
