“It will have an immeasurable positive impact on the automotive students who participate in the program, and the full electric vehicle is integral to the new training we implemented to ensure these students’ success in the automotive industry.”
SRP Donates EV to Glendale Community College’s Automotive Training Program
Students in GCC's Ford ASSET program will train on a battery-powered EV and prepare for modern-day automotive technician careers
Students at Glendale Community College (GCC) pursuing an associate’s degree or certificates in automotive technology will now have extra hands-on experience with the ability to train on an electric Ford Focus donated by SRP. Before this donation, students in GCC’s program did not yet have a full-electric vehicle to train with.
The donated 2015 battery-powered electric Ford Focus was recently retired from SRP’s fleet and will be used in GCC’s Ford ASSET program (Automotive Student Service Educational Training). This is a factory-sponsored, four-semester program that prepares students to transition to the local Arizona workforce as productive, effective automotive technicians. Those who graduate from this program have training necessary to work in Ford or Lincoln dealerships as well as SRP’s Transporation Services department which helps maintain all assets in SRP’s fleet.
“It is hard to find the words to articulate what this vehicle donation means to the Ford ASSET program and GCC,” said Don Davis, the Ford Asset Program Director and Ford ASSET Instructor. “It will have an immeasurable positive impact on the automotive students who participate in the program, and the full electric vehicle is integral to the new training we implemented to ensure these students’ success in the automotive industry.”
GCC is one of a small handful of colleges in the U.S. that has purchased the widely acclaimed Lucas-Nuelle Automotive trainer, specifically designed and engineered for diagnosis and repair of hybrid-electric and full-electric vehicle technology. Now, with this donation, the students can learn to how to diagnose and make repairs on a 100% battery-powered vehicle.
“Training with up-to-date technology in automotive education is critical for an economy that is transitioning to low-carbon, electric vehicles and transportation,” said Kate Kochenderfer Senior Director of Supply Chain, Transportation, and Flight Services at SRP. “We are honored to make this donation, as a full-electric vehicle is a valuable asset that will help round out GCC’s training models and open up a pipeline of skilled resources to one day work at SRP or other local companies within our community.”
The associate degree and certificates in Applied Science in Automotive Service at GCC prepares students to apply technical knowledge and skills to repair, service, and maintain all vehicles, especially hybrid electric and full electric vehicles.
SRP has been a leader in the EV space for some time and has spent over twenty years investigating and piloting electric vehicles for SRP employees, the SRP fleet and customers. At the end of its fiscal year 2020, SRP converted its entire sedan fleet to all EVs (hybrid and battery), and continually makes updates to its EV fleet as new EV vehicles become available.
Education and awareness in electric transportation are critical facets to reaching SRP’s EV- and carbon-reduction related sustainability goals. Among SRP’s 2035 Sustainability Goals, the utility plans to support the enablement of 500,000 EVs in SRP's service territory. To reach this goal, it is critical that SRP have EV partnerships focused on information sharing, marketing, infrastructure and charging development.
“We’re grateful to SRP for their support in the automotive community even beyond this donation,” said Davis. “SRP employees are always willing to step up and donate their time at the Automotive and Heavy Duty Truck High School and Post-Secondary events and competitions. The utility has also donated money for scholarships, and helped facilitate many of Arizona’s Automotive events and competitions.”
About Glendale Community College
GCC (Glendale Community College) is a fully accredited post-secondary institution with world-class faculty teaching in state-of-the-art facilities. The college provides 41 Associates degrees, 61 certificate programs, and a range of non-degree and certificate offerings all available to students in traditional, online and hybrid formats. Founded in 1965 to serve the northwestern part of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, GCC has two campuses and annually enrolls approximately 26,000 students. GCC touts small class sizes which means students get personalized attention at an affordable cost. It is one of the ten community colleges that fall under the umbrella of Maricopa County Community Colleges District, and GCC’s credits transfer to all Arizona universities for students who attend GCC with the goal of transferring to a four-year school.
Automotive programs at GCC:
For more information in regards to the Ford ASSET program at Glendale Community College. Contact Don Davis at don.davis@gccaz.edu.
For more information on the other automotive programs available at Glendale Community College, please contact: - General Motors, GM ASEP program, Lyle Clark at lyle.clark@gccaz.edu
Chrysler MCAP program, Greg Dragiewicz at greg.dragiewicz@gccaz.edu GCC General program, MAAP program Joseph Landavazo at joseph.landavazo@gccaz.edu
SRP is a community-based, not-for-profit public power utility and the largest provider of electricity in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, serving more than 1 million customers. SRP is also the metropolitan area’s largest supplier of water, delivering about 750,000 acre-feet annually to municipal, urban and agricultural water users.