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Hawaiian Electric-Maui County Completes Donation of 2 Nissan Leafs to University of Hawaii Maui College EV Technician Training Program

image credit: Photo taken by Sayble Bissen, Hawaiian Electric 2020
Greggory Kresge's picture
Greggory Kresge 1,299
Electrification Of Transportation Project Delivery Manager, Hawaiian Electric

Proven business leader with over twenty years of experience in the Asia-Pacific Region with public and private sector entities and multi-cultural environments. Collaborate and negotiate with...

  • Member since 2020
  • 5 items added with 11,365 views
  • Oct 22, 2020
  • 3736 views

I am extremely happy to announce that we finally got approval from the State of Hawaii Public Utilities Commission to donate two older Nissan Leafs to our local college to use in a new electric vehicle training course established to meet the rural community needs on Molokai. From concept, to engagement with the University of Hawaii, to programatic grant funding, to PUC application, approval and title transfer was approximately a 30-month endeavour. Perseverance paid off. You can read more about these donations on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at the below links:

https://www.facebook.com/HawaiianElectric/photos/a.680393128669109/4488100304565020/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/hawaiianelectric/

https://twitter.com/MauiElectric/status/1311405310532374536/photo/1

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Matt Chester's picture
Matt Chester on Oct 22, 2020

That's terrific, Gregg! For anyone who missed it, Gregg was nominated as one of Energy Central's Innovation Champions earlier this year for this project: https://energycentral.com/c/ec/gregg-kresge-hawaiian-electric-profile-energy-central-innovation-champion

I can't tell you how frustrating it is as an EV driver to go into the dealership where I bought the car for a check up or other appointment and be told they don't know how to handle it. How long do you expect the training for each of these technicians to take now that the vehicles are on hand? 

Greggory Kresge's picture
Greggory Kresge on Oct 26, 2020

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the accolades. The first training session was 30 hours and was conducted over 6 days (3 Fridays/Saturdays). This allowed the mechanics from Molokai to fly over to Maui in concentrated time blocks so they could still have some weekend time with their families and conduct their normal auto repair work the rest of the week.

The next sessions will probably be a similar duration, however, I am working with local bus operators and the University of Hawaii Maui College to also conduct e-bus technician training as well. The great part of this training model is that it is catering to existing and new mechanics to provide a new skill set in this evolving field. 

Stay tuned!

 

 

Greggory Kresge's picture
Thank Greggory for the Post!
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