Volting Into the Future

EAST PEORIA — The Illinois Central College Board of Trustees has approved the purchase of a new 2013 Chevrolet Volt for the GM-ASEP and Automotive Technology Programs.

The Volt has been purchased from Graue Inc. in Lincoln for the price of $36,368.00.

According to the Agricultural and Industrial Technologies Department, the Chevrolet Volt will provide the latest technology in extended range electric vehicles and will keep ICC’s automotive programs up to speed with National Automotive Teachers Educational Foundation (NATEF) standards.

The NATEF standard for 2012 includes safety and disabling procedures for the high voltage battery pack.

“There’s a lot of new technology and safety features on the vehicle that students need to be aware of,” say David Morgenstern, coordinator and instructor of the GM ASEP program. He equates working on a high voltage car without proper training to nonchalantly playing with power lines. “Our biggest thing is familiarizing and teaching students some safety procedures of the car to be safe when working on the car.”

Currently, ICC uses a Toyota Prius, which is a Hybrid, similar, but not exactly like a high voltage car, to demonstrate such procedures to their General Motor students. “It’s a GM ASEP program,” says GM ASEP student Jake Grass, 19, of Lincoln, “why do we have a Prius?”

Alex Stein, 20, of Pekin, also a GM ASEP student, says, “I think getting the Volt for the program is going to help out a lot. It’s a huge step as a teaching aid, because as of right now we don’t have anything to learn the batteries or the motor technology that GM uses.”

The AIT department believes the purchase of this vehicle will provide students the opportunity to gain experience with cutting edge technology and make them more employable post-graduation.

According to Morgenstern, the Volt has been ordered in Topaz Blue and will hopefully be on campus by Jan. 14.