Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) will soon be teaching students how to maintain electric vehicles, the B.C. Government announced today.
Bruce Ralston MLA, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, visited the KPU Tech campus in Cloverdale, Surrey, to reveal the university’s automotive service technician program would be in the next wave of institutions providing electric vehicle (EV) training.
“We’re supporting the growing popularity of electric vehicles by helping auto technicians develop the skills they need to work on EVs in service centres across B.C.,” said Bruce Ralston, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation. “The expansion of the EV Maintenance Training program will help grow our EV sector and make it even easier for British Columbians to make the switch to an EV, putting us on the road to a cleaner, better future.”
With 13 per cent of all light-duty vehicle sales in 2021 being zero emission vehicles and the province targeting 90 per cent by 2030, the need for suitably trained technicians is expected to grow rapidly in the coming decade.
With about three quarters of registered zero emission light-duty vehicles in B.C. in 2020 found in the Lower Mainland region, adding KPU as the first post-secondary electric vehicle training centre south of the Fraser River is an important expansion in capacity.
A pilot training program for Red Seal automotive technicians wanting to upgrade their skills in electric vehicle maintenance is expected to begin at KPU in fall 2022.
“The future of transportation and the resulting reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in British Columbia lies in the electrification of vehicles,” says Dr. Joel Murray, associate dean, Faculty of Trades and Technology. “KPU is proud to have been chosen to participate in this pilot to prepare automotive technicians for the low-carbon economy.”
Minister Ralston was joined at the announcement by Anne Kang, Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Training, and Mike Starchuk, MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale.