Electric Vehicle Careers: Juice up at Citrus College

Keeping up with the jargon of the electric vehicle (EV) industry these days can be challenging. In that context, the word “juice” is now widely understood to mean "electricity that makes an engine work.” Juice is one of dozens of terms unique to EVs, and the lexicon seems to be growing as fast as the industry.

Currently, automotive plants are turning out upwards of 500K new EVs each year. According to caranddriver.com, “Electric cars are the future…”

With momentum building towards what seems like a revolution in transportation, it’s clear that thousands of workers trained in this new technology will be needed to design, manufacture, build and maintain EVs. This will include workers to build and maintain charging stations and other EV infrastructure.

Not surprisingly, the automotive industry is turning to community colleges for workforce training to meet what will no doubt be a colossal need for skilled workers.

Citrus College, located in the greater San Gabriel Valley, is once again taking the lead in training workers for this job-creating industry. The college currently offers a Certificate in Clean Energy and Vehicle Electrification. Courses prepare students to advance in the field with training in alternative fuel, hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicle technology. Typical good paying EV jobs include hybrid and electric vehicle technicians.

Late last year, Citrus College partnered with Proterra, a leading innovator in heavy-duty electric transportation, to train workers to build electric buses. The customized nine week program, with limited enrollment, is a first-of-its-kind workforce training program in advanced electric bus manufacturing. This comes at a time when the City of Los Angeles has ordered 155 new electric buses and plans to convert its bus fleet to emission-free vehicles by 2028, when it will host the Olympics and Paralympics. In addition, Governor Newsom has recently issued an executive order to achieve 100 percent zero-emission new vehicle sales by 2035. His proposed budget for next year includes a $1.5 billion investment in the clean transportation sector.

From hybrid to fully electric, new models for 2021 from U.S. manufacturers and their global counterparts will include pickup trucks, SUV crossovers and luxury automobiles. Electrek, a company that tracks and analyzes news on the transition from fossil-fuel to electric transportation, proclaimed that “2021 is going to be the year for all-electric cars and should greatly accelerate the electric revolution. There are so many new models hitting the market that it should shift the entire industry.”

Got juice? You might want to consider a new career in this fast growing field.

About the Author:

Dr. Edward C. Ortell is the senior governing board member at Citrus College and a Professor Emeritus at Pasadena City College. He has served on the California Community College Trustees (CCCT) state board of directors and 11 terms as president of the Citrus College Board of Trustees.