Episode 147 | Building America’s Electric Vehicle Workforce

Trevor Crain, Mobility Research and Education Program Manager, Argonne National Laboratory joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss building America’s electric vehicle workforce. 

The conversation begins with Trevor sharing his thoughts on developing the workforce of the future as society shifts to electrified forms of mobility and how this skill set can transition to other industries. 

Our team here at Argonne looks at how do we build revolutionary and innovative programs that help all of our workforce program participants be able to address all these different technologies. – Trevor Crain

As the workforce is developed to work on electric vehicles and the infrastructure needed to support EVs, Argonne is working to ensure that students have the skill sets needed to succeed even when the technology or standards change. 

One of the ways that Argonne is helping students develop the skill set of the future is through the EcoCar Challenge. The EcoCar Challenge is a multi-year program where 15 North American universities teams come together to develop next generation electric vehicle technologies and automation are energy efficient. These teams are getting real-world, hands on experiences.

We are taking things out of the research realm and into the actual application realm onboard our real test vehicles. – Trevor Crain

Bernstein Research is projecting that battery electric vehicles will reach 40% marketshare globally by 2030. If this forecast comes to realization, the workforce development and the skills needed to service these vehicles will has to be accelerated and developed today.

One way to potentially accelerate the work force development for EVs is through apprenticeships where students do not take on debt. This is just one of the many options that could be implemented to ensure that the workforce of the future is ready today.

Expanding the conversation, Trevor discusses the skill set that students learn as part of the EcoCar Challenge. As part of the challenge, students are encouraged to think from a customer centric approach. Would a consumer want this feature? Would a consumer pay for this feature? Does this feature increase the range of the vehicle?

Wrapping up the conversation, Trevor shares his thoughts on electric vehicles.

Recorded on Tuesday, June 20, 2023

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