Sinclair Community College is not only helping train future auto techs about hybrid technology, they’re also training the instructors.

“We saw this coming and we were able to secure a grant from the National Science Foundation,” explained Tom Freels, the Sinclair instructor teaching the course. “We got $800,000 to develop the curriculum, and we have now trained more than 160 other instructors, in addition to completing four classes of our own students.”

“We brought in factory trainers from Toyota, Honda, General Motors and Ford, so we have factory experts helping us develop the curriculum and training, so I guess we are out in front of this,” Freels said.

As more hybrid-powered cars are on the street, demand for the class is growing, and about 13 students are taking the current course, bringing the total to more than 50 students through the new program. “This class teaches the high voltage aspect and the diagnostic issues relating to these cars,” Freels said. “The students have to have both of our electrical classes as pre-requisites or taking this class would be useless. It’s a lot to do with learning about safety when dealing with high voltage, isolating the electrical problems that crop up, and learning to be very strong at electronic diagnostics,” he added.

The most common hybrid-powered cars use a small internal combustion engine, usually about 1.5 liters, in combination with high voltage batteries that power electric drive motors. There is still a 12-volt system to power the accessories in the cars, but the big drive batteries range from 250 to 300 volts.

Just opening the hood of a hybrid, you immediately notice bright orange wires and leads, signifying high voltage.

“These are the cars of tomorrow, so I better know how to work on them,” said Cody Singleton, a 23-year-old who will graduate as an auto technician from Sinclair. “I really learned a lot in the class, I feel really confident right now that I can tackle diagnostics and repair on these hybrids. I actually learned so much about hybrid technology that I even wrote a paper on it for my English class, and got a good grade on that too.”

Freels, who holds a bachelor’s degree in automotive technology from Southern Illinois University and a master’s in education from the University of Dayton, explains that the class is a combination of classroom and hands-on work. “We have about a dozen hybrid vehicles in the shop,” he said. “And we just got our first Chevy Volt so we have a wide variety of models for the students to use. We have a couple of Prius cars, a few Hondas, a Ford Escape and Fusion and GM pickups and a Yukon.”

“The technology is going into the mainstream cars as it advances each year” Freels said, “But you have to remember, they still have four wheels, and really, gas, electric or a combination of both, they’re still just cars.”