DAY 2: “Moving Parts” – The Group Training Academy EV Tour Blog

March 2, 2021 – Courtyard by Marriott, State College, PA

Well, our first training stop of the tour is in the books, and we are very excited about how smooth the sessions went. Coupled with the enthusiastic response TGTA received from the participants, we have high hopes that we're on the right track in presenting quality and timely training on an important topic. Day 1 of the session set the stage for day 2, which consisted of an extensive series of practical, hands-on demonstrations where students were given the opportunity to interact directly with tools, meters, and the star of the show (other than the Talent), the Group's cutaway Prius training tool.

The Prius is a 3^rd generation 2010 hybrid that has been dissected to reveal the components, wiring, and battery that make electric vehicles unique. The fully driveable and operational car has been developed as an excellent platform for training. Not only are all components and systems easily accessed, but there are also a second series of key components attached to the vehicle that are not connected to the HV system. A second battery, inverter/converter, and motor generator have been installed in the car so that students can safely interact with them, and their knowledge evaluated by the instructor before allowing them to work with the vehicle's live systems.

We're getting a little bit ahead of ourselves here; let's rewind to the morning. The day began with John giving lectures to Mifflin's automotive high school students on electric vehicle diagnostic skillset advantages, encouraging both the junior and senior levels of future techs to truly consider obtaining EV repair skills. With the growth of electric vehicle sales and the seemingly daily announcements of OE manufacturer's large-scale electric vehicle rollouts, skills in this field obtained now are destined to be a wise investment. Unfortunately for the students, John shared some of his escapades as a high school automotive instructor which might have given them not-so-good ideas.

After the 11 am and 1:30 pm presentations to the Mifflin students, preparations were made for the second 5 pm to 9 pm technician training session. Over the evening, John presented many procedural and diagnostic techniques, inviting hands-on student participation with the Prius. Lessons included explaining specific meters, vehicle shutdown procedures, live-dead-live testing, inverter/converter diagnostics, insulation testing, battery construction and cell diagnostics, and a healthy dose of scan tool data interpretation.

It's now 10:30 pm, and John and I are safely tucked in our beds at the hotel. Tomorrow is a travel day, so we'll start the morning with… well, we'll save that for the next installment.

We have already concluded that a second, advanced class to build on the information presented is needed. This course laid some excellent groundwork, but we can definitely see that our technicians would welcome a next-level course to build on what was delivered.

BTW, we have nicknamed our truck Moby.

Stay tuned to this blog, as we hope to bring you updates on this tour as it goes, both the good and not-so-good, all the way through to its' conclusion on March 27 in Fort Myers, Florida, TGTA's world headquarters. Tomorrow's update will introduce a training tool that genuinely brings that added level of information we all love to see in a live training session.

If you are interested in finding out how to bring TGTA live training to your area, contact us at Phone: 1-800-718-7246 | Email: support@aviondemand.com. We will be adding tour stops for the EV classes and additional content on such topics as advanced diesel diagnostics, ADAS, and light, medium, and heavy-duty braking systems.