Maria Miller MP officially launches our new Electric Vehicle Training Centre

Maria Miller MP officially opened the doors to the new EV Training Centre on Friday 23 October.

On Friday 23 October, Rt Hon Maria Miller Basingstoke MP attended the ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open the doors to the new Electric Vehicle (EV) Training Centre at Basingstoke College of Technology (BCoT).  Maria Miller MP did the honours alongside Principal Anthony Bravo, followed by a tour of the EV Centre and the hybrid and electric cars on display and then met with Automotive students including Chloe and Dylan who demonstrated the £100k training systems.

The £300k development of the EV Centre is the first of its kind in the South East and will add huge value for both the local industry and students.  The new facility will help equip our future mechanics and auto technicians, and retrain established mechanics, with the valuable skills they will need as the hybrid and electric vehicle market continues to increase. The state-of-the-art training systems consist of a hardware module and an e-learning course with practical training content including service, repair and diagnostic work, representing the ideal introduction to the subject of hybrid and electric vehicles.

Maria Miller MP said: “I’m delighted to have officially opened BCoT’s Electric Vehicle Training Centre this morning. It’s fantastic that Basingstoke has the first EV Centre in a technical college in Hampshire and the South East. This Centre means our young people here in Basingstoke have an excellent facility in which to start their careers.  It was lovely to meet students Chloe and Dylan to hear about the importance of this new facility on their course as they demonstrated the equipment.”

Automotive student Chloe Ellen said: “It was good to be part of the launch and to meet Maria today. We are excited that we got to demonstrate the equipment and I’m looking forward to doing a specific module on this at the end of our course.”  

Maria added: “I’m a big advocate of BCoT as they are consistently one of the best colleges in the country due to their engagement with employers and focus on supporting young people in securing placements to give students the best start - This EV facility is the icing on the cake.  There will no doubt be a shortage of skilled labour in the area following the impact of Covid and so it’s vital that BCoT continues to stay in close contact with industry so that they can provide the skills needed today and for the future.”   

Principal Anthony Bravo said: “I am really proud to see the EV Training Centre in action today, it’s been the culmination of a long process from working alongside IMI in putting in the bid together, to receiving the funding from Enterprise M3 LEP, and finally getting the centre up and running over the summer. It’s amazing to have our students demonstrating the equipment today for our MP Maria Miller and for our local dealerships to get involved by bringing their electric cars and seeing the fantastic facility that we have here. Special thanks also to Pro-Moto and Cleevely EV Cheltenham for organising the Tesla today.”

To find out more about Automotive and what BCoT has to offer, see our range of full-time courses and part-time professional and leisure courses.  Applications for 2021 are now open and students can apply by visiting: bcot.ac.uk/apply