An educational centre in Ruddington, which helps to train vehicle mechanics of the future, is celebrating new Government funding to develop a brand-new facility specialising in the ‘decarbonisation’ of vehicles.
Nottingham College’s EMTEC Centre on Mere Way is already home to its commercial and automotive employer services offer. It provides specialist automotive training to some 735 apprentices through partnerships with internationally renowned automotive brands including Hyundai, Genesis, Ssang Yong and more.
Now, thanks to a £400,000 grant, the centre is set to expand further to offer specialist training utilising a new fleet including two brand new Hyundai Ionic 5 Electric Vehicles, a new Zero SR-F EV Motorcycle provided by Pidcock Motorcycles, and two brand new Mirai Generation 1 and Generation 2 Hydrogen Fuel Cell cars provided by Toyota.
The College says these new vehicles will significantly increase the centre’s capacity to meet the surging demand for highly skilled, trained automotive technicians and EV specialists – to help repair, service and maintain the more than 1.2 million electric and hybrid plug-in cars already on UK roads. By purchasing the two new hydrogen fuel cell cars, it’s hoped its Ruddington campus can get further ahead of the curve – as a state-of-the-art training provider in a fast-paced and ever-evolving sector of new technologies currently changing the face of our automotive industry.
The funding announcement follows ‘National Apprenticeship Week’ last month when the CEO of Nottinghamshire County Council, Adrian Smith, and Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, Ben Bradley MP, both came to Ruddington to tour the EMTEC Centre, and observe the training already being given here.
The College’s Principal and CEO, Janet Smith, says: “Nottingham College can play a huge role in helping our city achieve its goals around carbon emission reduction. As a college, we have made a similar pledge to pursue a net zero goal by 2030 and importantly, our role as skills provider means that we can support our wider economy to develop green jobs, incorporate green technologies and welcome green companies into our region.”
Janet, who is a vocal supporter of Nottingham’s bid to become ‘carbon-neutral’ by 2028, adds: “This expanded offering at our Ruddington site paves the way for our ambitions to develop a specialist green skills centre catering to many different sectors. To expand our automotive curriculum to provide the skills infrastructure needed to support the continued roll-out of EV and other green vehicle technology is a crucial step on this journey.”
Once the expanded facility is complete, Nottingham College says its apprenticeship programmes will be enhanced to include training utilising these new vehicles – with commercial training packages being developed to cater for the needs of those technicians and automotive specialists already in the industry.
{Photographs courtesy of Nottingham College}
