Southeastern Community College hosted Cutaway Creations and ConsuLab on Sept. 19 for a Tesla car trainer demonstration and EV cutaway trainer showcase. Instructors, staff, students and industry partners gathered at Flex Lab 1 on campus to go hands-on with the latest in EV maintenance training technology.  

Mike McGhee of Cutaway Creations explained that gaining maintenance and repair experience on a live EV is dangerous and impractical for students. He said that dealing with high voltage equipment in a live setting could result in death or serious injury.  

“This car is 100% safe, and it doesn’t have the high voltage battery in it anymore,” McGhee said. “It still has all the functionality, and the electronics are still there. Anything the car could originally do is still there except being able to drive.” 

In addition to the Tesla trainer, McGhee discussed the electromagnetism trainer and the Ohm’s Law trainer that allowed students to measure electricity, amperage, voltage and resistance. There was a circuit builder trainer, a sensor trainer and signal acquisition trainer.  

McGhee passed out clipboards and worksheets to the automotive students and tasked them with walking around the Tesla trainer to identify car parts. After learning the parts of the car, students got inside and tested out the accessories with the large digital screen display on the dashboard.  

The event attracted classes from other technical programs on campus such as electrical engineering, HVAC and welding. There was an overall positive reaction from students and instructors and what they saw on display.  

“I was quite impressed with the Tesla trainer, and it was a lot better than what I expected,” said Johnny O’Connell, SCC automotive systems technology instructor. “This gave us a first-hand look, which is good because we’re most likely getting one.”     

With an EV diploma program in the works at SCC, O’Connell said that having this Tesla trainer would expose students to new technologies that many have never seen before. For many students, the Tesla trainer was their first experience with an electric vehicle. O’Connell described the EV trainer event as an overall success.   

“It’s showing where this industry is going in the future,” said David Higgins, SCC automotive systems technology instructor. “It’s a real benefit to not only our students but also our community with teaching our local technicians how to safely maintain these cars.” 

Higgins praised the Tesla trainer for its clear display of voltage flow and numbers. The Tesla trainer was equipped with LED lights that showed the flow of electricity from the battery to all electrical systems on the vehicle. Beside each car part that received electricity was a screen displaying the voltage numbers. Higgins said the Tesla trainer was on the list of equipment needed for the future EV diploma program.