VCC's EV Conversion Course: Save Money, Emissions

0:00It's March 25th. Welcome in. This is Vancouver News today, where local news meets AI. Vancouver Community College is rolling out a new pilot course to help people convert their gas-powered cars into electric vehicles, just as fuel. Prices climb higher. The program, called EV Vehicle Conversion, costs only $1 and exchanged for participant feedback to refine it. It's open to anyone and kicks off on April 13th for three weeks. The course starts with 45 hours of online training on basics, like electrical theory and computer-aided design, that leads into 80 hours of hands-on work over the next two weeks, covering tools, honor two weeks, three-dimensional scanning, and actual conversion steps. This idea sparked at the Everything Electric Show in Vancouver, where faculty kept getting asked about such training. The college got funding from the BC Post-Secondary Education Ministry to make it happen. Last year, they even demoted live by turning a 2004 GMC Canyon pickup into a fully electric

1:04ride with a manual transmission during the event. They used the kit from a Vancouver Island company that includes the motor, controller, and batteries for around $30,000, but the training also shows how to repurpose parts from wrecked electric vehicles to cut costs. One instructor is applying the skills to swap a Tesla setup into his Porsche 914. With parts for older cars getting scarce and gas-staying pricey, this offers a path to lower maintenance, zero emissions, and a unique ride that skips. The high cost of new electric models. It takes patience and troubleshooting, but could save drivers money down the road.