Getting hands-on with Edinburgh College's new high-tech EV training rig
The College was proud to recently welcome a host of colleagues from colleges across Scotland to the Automotive department at the Sighthill campus to get some hands-on experience with our brand-new electric vehicle training rig.
The state-of-the-art piece of kit, which is an Energy Skills Partnership shared resource funded through a Transport Scotland zero-emission scheme, will be hosted by the College and will allow students to learn vital skills in a real-world environment. The rig is a fully operational life-size electric heavy duty vehicle, (eHDV), featuring genuine components, and is capable of demonstrating faults as well as key systems such as regenerative braking. Working with the rig encourages critical thinking and problem-solving skills among students, teaching them to troubleshoot issues and analyse faults.
The CPD session, which was facilitated by Simon Kitson of Martec Training, allowed representatives from other colleges and organisations a chance to inspect the rig closely, before being given a demonstration of its capabilities, seeing how it can elevate the level of teaching it is possible to provide in a traditional classroom environment.
Rachel Fuller, who was in attendance from ESP, says it was a very worthwhile event:
“I was delighted to attend the recent Block Automotive practical training session hosted at Edinburgh College. One of ESP’s newest shared resources, the eHDV is essential to ensuring Scotland’s colleges are well equipped for the transition to zero emission transport. This type of resource enables college staff to bridge the gap between theoretical learning and the practical skills required by industry with their learners.
“Many thanks to Transport Scotland for their ongoing support of zero carbon transport skills within Scotland’s colleges.”
Kieran Lydon, Edinburgh College’s Curriculum Team Manager for Advanced Automotive Engineering, says the College is proud to be training the next generation of automotive engineers:
“The eHDV training rig is an essential piece of kit that will enable students and industry partners to gain all of the practical skills necessary to help maintain the vehicles guiding Scotland towards a net zero future. The department would like to thank Transport Scotland and ESP for their work in supporting the College, as well as all of the attendees from various colleges and organisations that attended the session.”