Inside Maines first EV repair class [Video]

SOUTH PORTLAND — A cavernous garage with cars hoisted on lifts on a recent weekday afternoon could be any auto repair shop.

This is different. The Southern Maine Community College building, just steps from Casco Bay with a sea breeze blowing through large open doorways, is a classroom for students learning how to repair electric vehicles.

On this particular day, they and their teacher, Ruth Morrison, were stress-testing the lithium batteries that power EVs, technologically advanced machines that present different challenges from what mechanics face while peering under the hood of gas-powered vehicles. Students were monitoring data on a laptop connected by a cable to a box next to the dashboard of a Chevy Blazer EV, recording the lowest and highest cell voltage, state of charge and other information.

“It’s a brand-new world,” said Cory McCulloch, a student who is a mechanic at a Kia dealership. The 16-week course from …