In the News

By 2035 every vehicle sold in Massachusetts will be electrically powered, necessitating the creation of a whole new network of industries to program, maintain and service this fleet of cars and trucks. Recharge America has taken the first steps to help push Massachusetts toward its goals by partnering with Springfield Technical Community College to promote careers in electric transportation.

Called, “Recharging Careers and a Clean Future for Western Mass,” local electric vehicle dealers, STCC and related industries gathered on the State Street campus Saturday to highlight the new opportunities in clean and sustainable energy and to introduce EVs to Massachusetts drivers. It was more or less an EV show and career fair for those looking to the future of clean energy.

Stephanie Dorman, national program director for Recharge America, said Saturday’s program makes clear that new industries and the careers that go with them are here and now. Recharge America is a national program to mobilize support for electric vehicle adoption, help keep energy dollars local, boost local economies and assist communities in capturing the benefits of clean transportation.

“We have been working with STCC and Mass Clean Cities on setting up this event specifically for STCC because we feel that STCC is a really good local community college that can help our students get into electrification careers,” she said. “We want to push the careers that are coming along with electrification and with this transition to EVs.”

Dorman said the EV test drives seemed an easy addition.

“We are hosting the EV drive on top of the career fair to help get people into EVs. A lot of people don’t have a clue how an EV works, so the best classroom for learning is to get into the vehicle and drive.”

For STCC, the program fits extremely well in its wheelhouse.

“It’s the technical in our two middle names,” STCC President John Cook said. “The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) foundation that is really important to all of this technology, the digitization of everything, the electrification of everything, as well as things like programming computer systems are all what we do here.”

Governor Maura T. Healey’s free community college program opens the doors for a lot of people who otherwise may not have had a career interest in sustainable energy. Especially those in the low-income and communities of color right around the school’s campus, Cook said.

“We are thrilled because we are now able to demystify a whole range of amazing career pathways for these communities,” he said. “There are really the jobs of the future that we are helping to prep for. So, free community college has already had a dramatic impact on us. We are thrilled about it.”

Much of the funding that is driving today’s push for sustainable energy and programs like the state’s EV mandate came from the Inflation Reduction Act, written in no small part by the House Ways and Means Committee, and its ranking member, U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield.

“I know a lot about it, because I wrote it,” Neal said Saturday. “For all the talk I think the Inflation Reduction Act is the most important piece of climate legislation in the history of the world. Mike Thompson, D-California, and Earl Blumenaurer, D-Oregon, did the day-to-day authorship of the bill, but it came out of the Ways and Means Committee as did the tax side of the infrastructure bill.”

Unlike the daily barrage of political pronouncements we hear from many in Congress, Neal said there is one inescapable truth in government.

“Legislation changes lives,” he said.

The second part of Saturday‘s program offered local drivers an intimate introduction to electrically powered vehicles, or EVs. Models from each of the area’s dealerships were available to test drive by attendees.

Jeff Manning does not work for a dealership but is a long-time owner and driver of EVs. He drove his 2012 Tesla Model Y to Springfield from Shutesbury on the Massachusetts Turnpike. Actually, the Tesla drove him with its autonomous self-driving package. Manning came to introduce EVs to a skeptical public. He not only owns the 2021 Model Y he brought to STCC Saturday, but in 2015, he bought a Tesla Model S or sedan. He still owns the older car, which now has 170,000 miles on it.

“I wanted to get into the electric car thing early,” he said. “At that time with rebates it was between $70(,000) and $75,000.”

Since his first purchase, the price of EVs has dropped to a mid-range EV might have a sticker price of $60,000 but with new, generous state and federal rebates.

“Right now, in Massachusetts, if you qualify you can get up to $13,500 off the purchase price of your EV. And it no longer is a tax write-off, but it comes off the sticker price at the dealership,” Dorman said. “That’s both state and federal rebates.”

Manning said he has spent little supporting both his EVs. Routine maintenance includes the replacement of air filters and maintenance of the car’s 12-volt system, which powers the computer controls and lighting. Tires appear to be the biggest expense. Even after traveling 170,000 miles, Manning said his older Tesla can still charge to nearly 90 percent capacity.

“I don’t travel more than 50 miles a day, so I don’t charge it more than 80 percent anyway,” he said.

A full charge will take the car 250 miles before it needs attention, usually about 10 minutes at a high-capacity charger. The Tesla software that comes with the car projects maps that show charging stations all along a chosen route.

The battery system hides under the floorboards of the vehicle, putting the heaviest weight of the car at its lowest point. Manning held up a small tube about the size of a lipstick case and said, “The battery is made up of 7,000 of these, wired in series. Even if one fails, the battery is modular, so you only lose a small fraction of the capacity.”

He said all four wheels are powered by two motors, giving the car excellent snow capability.

The Recharge America and STCC program was designed to introduce not just clean energy careers and EVs, but other electrified transportation options such as electric bicycles and electric scooters used on college campuses to flit between classes. But all fell within the global definition of electrification.

“This marks a significant moment in Western Mass,” Dorman said. “It provides an important platform for connecting the public with career opportunities in the rapidly growing STEM and electrification sectors.”

Or, what State Sen. Adam Gomez, D-Springfield, described as, “Putting people and the planet first.”