College bids to fill EV skills gap with £19m centre

A £19.3m training centre has opened to teach budding mechanics how to work on hybrid and electric vehicles.

The extension to Bradford College, Junction Mills, was built on the site of a derelict textile mill on Thornton Road and has facilities for up to 650 students.

The four-storey site is one of the biggest developments in Bradford city centre since One City Park, the college said, and took two years to complete.

Steve Smith, Head of Department for Motor Vehicle and Engineering, said the new facilities would allow the college to fill skills gaps in the industry.

"We invested heavily in the hybrid and EV rigs that we've got in Junction Mills, and these allow us to train students right from level one to level three on these technologies," Smith said.

"The beauty of it as well is that we're not just attracting the students who typically would be your typical motor vehicle mechanic.

"Hopefully we'll be able to fill skills gaps within the industry because we know that there's not enough electrical and hybrid vehicle technicians."

A ceremony held to mark the official opening of Junction Mills was attended by content creator and presenter Abigayle André and local MP Judith Cummins.

The project was funded with £17.8m from the Department for Education's Further Education Capital Transformation Fund and £1.5m from Bradford College.

The centre includes classrooms, IT labs, professional vehicle lifts designed for MOT testing, three large workshops where students can work on traditional cars, as well as EV bays and a hydrogen fuel cell car.

Smith said the college was one of a handful across the country where students could learn on hydrogen rigs which simulate the operation of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

"We want Bradford to be at the forefront of that technology," he said.

Smith said the courses allowed students to work on vehicles very quickly once they qualified, with more than 280 garages in Bradford that students could work in.

"We have people from lots of different businesses wanting to work with the college. I think Bradford College Motor Vehicle is really on the map," he said.

"We're above national average across the board in motor vehicle. We are turning out some very, very good students. We've gone from strength to strength and now we've got the purpose-built building it can only get better."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.