Chapel Hill High School’s Automotive Technology program has been given the opportunity to work on electric vehicles donated by Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International, a nonprofit research organization located in North Carolina.
Auto Tech teacher Robert Ballard believes that working on electric cars will help his students prepare for the automotive industry’s technological progression.
“Electric vehicles are the way of the future,” Ballard said. “Every manufacturer is developing some type of electric vehicle, and, if we want to be able to fix them in the future, we have to train the technicians to work on them now.”
The donated vehicles help students understand how cars differ internally and teach students to be versatile mechanics, Ballard said.
Senior Max Platz is enrolled in Ballard’s Automotive Service III Honors class and noted that the work on the electric vehicles has not been without complications.
“We are trying to get the electric cars working, but it’s been hard to find information, and we think that something’s been disconnected to keep them from working.”
Still, students enrolled in the school’s Automotive Technology classes are offered numerous, hands-on opportunities to learn more about how cars work, as well as gain the experience and qualifications to land automotive jobs upon graduation.
Freshman Jason Montero, who is taking the introductory Automotive Service Fundamentals course, appreciates the resources and curriculum of the class, and he plans to remain in the program for the next three years with aspirations of pursuing a career in the automotive industry.
“Ballard has taught us a lot about the automotive industry and how it can get you far in life,” Montero said.
Senior Martin Martinez Ocana is also taking Automotive Service Fundamentals and has learned some of the practical skills necessary for automotive repair and maintenance.
“I’ve had to replace spark plugs,” Martinez Ocana said, adding that he has gained experience diagnosing problems that need repair in the vehicles students work on.
A trio of senior students in the Automotive Technology program—Connor Barker, Will Blythe and Platz—has also formed a racing team under the guidance of Ballard, after local businesses Walker Auto Parts, Chapel Hill Tire, Southern Wake Automotive and Carsmart Collision made donations to the program.
Walker Auto Parts presented the racing team with a $1,500 donation in December, allowing the three students to perform electrical work on an old stock car that the club hopes it can enter in races later this spring.
“We have a driver who owns Southern Wake Automotive and has been racing for years,” Ballard said. “Students will get their official NASCAR pit licenses and be able to join us in the pits during the race!”
The club’s members said they have benefited greatly from the opportunity to work on a race car, noting that their mechanical knowledge has improved greatly as a result.
“Working on the race car, I’ve gotten a lot of great hands-on experience I wouldn’t have been able to get anywhere else,” Platz said. “The most interesting thing I’ve learned is about troubleshooting and rewiring racing-specific components.”
With a couple months left before their first race in April, the team is encouraged to showcase what they have learned.
“I really want to see what I learned put to action on the racetrack,” Blythe said.
