Motlow McMinnville Groundbreaking For EV Tech Facility Monday

Motlow Community College’s McMinnville campus will break ground Monday on a new electric vehicle technology facility

Motlow Automation and Robotics Training Executive Director Larry Flatt said to his knowledge Motlow will be a first new facility for electric vehicles in the state. Flatt said the seven thousand square foot expansion will lead to an electric vehicle associates degree. Flatt said Motlow will also be expanding the capability of its existing mechatronics program.

“We’ve just simply outgrown our facilities,” Flatt said. “We have more students than we have space for equipment. We’re going to add somewhere around 60 percent additional space, which will allow us to add more equipment and give the students area to spread out their project and work area. So that’s exciting.”

Flatt said the project will more than double the laboratory space and classroom space available to students. The facility set to open next fall.

Flatt said the new equipment will include a garage car lift as well as sophisticated equipment as it relates to electrical safety.

“These cars can run as much as a thousand amps, a thousand amps would be to the equivalent to a small factory running a large horse power motor,” Flatt said. “So there’s inherent concerns about safety if you’re not properly trained, and we’ll have the equipment to train them how to do that.”

Flatt said in case the building is not ready for student use because of unforeseen circumstance, Motlow will still launch their programs.

“We would just have to find an alternative facility,” Flatt said. “Which we’ve already identified some that would allow us to at least start the academic side, as opposed to the hands-on side of the curriculum.”