High School Students Gear Up To Build Electric Vehicles

• Monday, September 12, 2016

Approximately 750 high school students from Garden Grove Unified School District (GGUSD) are gearing up to assemble a street legal pure drive electric vehicle provided through a grant-funded partnership with The SWITCH Lab.

Students from Bolsa Grande, Rancho Alamitos, Los Amigos, and Santiago high schools who are enrolled in engineering or automotive programs will get a hands-on experience in assembling the electric vehicle. SWITCH Lab founders specialize in electric vehicle instruction and provide various educational programs to help implement STEM-skills in career and technical education. 

“We are excited to offer the SWITCH Lab program as it will equip our students with skills that are in high demand in the rapidly-evolving field of automotive technology,” said GGUSD Board of Education trustee Bob Harden.

During GGUSD’s summer professional development program Super Week, teachers from the four schools were given an overview of the program, condensing the work students will be doing during the school year into a one-week crash course. 

The main objective is the assembly of an electric vehicle drive train into The SWITCH Lab vehicle, resulting in a pure drive electric vehicle (EV). In addition, students will also learn the advantages of using an electric drive train, including cost savings, environmental impact, and ease of use. Other course topics include electrical power concepts, a brief history and current status of EV technologies, and career possibilities in the electric transportation industry.

The SWITCH Lab provides all the necessary material such as the drivetrain, the electric vehicle, demonstration DVD’s, textbooks, study guides and tests, as well as additional activities at no cost to GGUSD. This is made possible by the Carl Perking Grant, which is renewable each year and is specifically for career technical education (CTE) programs and classes.

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