Staff and students from City of Wolverhampton College joined Dragon’s Den investor Deborah Meaden in a Radio 5 Live podcast to talk about how they are meeting the demand for more electric vehicle technicians in the region.
Andy Moore from the college’s Electric Vehicle and Green Technologies Centre, in Bentley Bridge, Wednesfield, and Badar Zaman, proprietor of The Mechanic automotive centre in Birmingham, took part in an episode of the Big Green Money Show which was broadcast on Friday, 17 February.
The podcast covered the availability of electric charging points for use by car owners and how the automotive industry is addressing the shortage of trained technicians qualified to work on the new generation of vehicles.
Garage owner Badar told Ms Meaden and fellow presenter Felicity Hannah how he has seen a 15% increase in customers with electric vehicles and how he and five of his mechanics have attended courses at the college to ensure that they are fully qualified and able to meet the needs of their customers.
Mr Moore spoke about how the college has invested in its new training centre to support businesses across the region with the transition to electric vehicles, as well as the range of courses it offers from introductory awareness courses for people wanting to enter the automotive industry to advanced training for existing qualified mechanics.
He said: “We were very proud to be asked to take part in the podcast and to talk about the training we offer in Wolverhampton to a national audience.
“It was great chatting to Deborah about the range of electric vehicle courses we offer and I even invited her to sign up for an awareness course herself!”
Listen to the podcast here
Get details of electric vehicle training courses offered by the college here
Pictured left: Andy (left) and Badar recording the BBC podcast
