A big boost for the Radstock-based Motor Vehicle Centre run by Bath College.
The number of students at the Somer Valley Campus who are learning vital skills in electric car maintenance and repair skills is set to double thanks to a cash boost from Metro Mayor Dan Norris.
Bath College received a £700,000 investment to expand their Radstock-based Motor Vehicle Centre so they can train up more electric car mechanics of the future.
Metro Mayor Dan Norris, who will visit the college as part of his third Jobs and Skills Summit, to meet some of the current students learning how to service all-electric cars and vans said: “Lift the bonnet of an electric car and it might seem like something is missing – with no sign of the usual fuel pump, spark plugs and other moving parts. These are very different vehicles, and that means they’ll need mechanics and other workers with different skill sets to service them.
“I’m proud a £700,000-plus investment from my Mayoral Combined Authority is helping skill up more local people to become electric car mechanics, work in car maintenance and take other vital jobs in an industry which is changing rapidly. This in turn will help me make it easier than ever for locals to own an electric car, and make the West of England the engine for the electric car revolution.”
With sales of new petrol and diesel cars and vans set to be banned from 2030, it is estimated that the UK needs another 25,000 qualified technicians, with the West of England alone needing hundreds more locals trained up in how to service electric vehicles by the end of the decade.
Industry leaders have warned the UK is lagging behind other countries in retraining its automotive workforce, so the Radstock cash boost is a big boost.
The new state-of-the-art facilities have seen additional classrooms created, plus refreshed tool stations and other high-tech equipment on an additional mezzanine floor.
