Switch Vehicles

Engineers require practical experience in building products, but CTE and STEM students are usually restricted to learning theory concepts and performing simple assembly projects. Crucial skills regularly utilized by individuals in practical engineering fields, like operating a wrench, adjusting builds to specifications, and tightening and loosening bolts, are neglected. Learners stand to benefit from practical experiences as part of their toolkit, driving educational institutions to look for accessible, cost-effective ways of equipping their students.

Bridging this gap between aspiring engineers and their growing need for hands-on experience, Switch Vehicles offers high school, college, and technical school students opportunities to learn practical engineering skills through a ‘build-it-yourself’ electric vehicle (EV) kit. The Switch Lab^™ program integrates curriculum with the EV kit to engage students in designing, building and testing the Switch EV, giving them a target to funnel their creative energy while promoting the message of a clean, sustainable future.

“We teach the skills and knowledge they require to pass tests to get certified for the workplace,” says Peter Oliver, Co-founder and CEO of Switch Vehicles.

Students assemble an electric vehicle as part of a semester, summer, or after school class using an EV kit, which includes all the necessary wiring, two seats, seatbelts, a windscreen, an assembly manual, a relay lab pro kit, and an unpainted glider. During the construction period, students strengthen their teamwork skills, and develop crucial soft skills like writing reports, time management, and communication.

Once the car is assembled, students can attempt further modifications, including manipulating the gear ratios, improving the aerodynamics, and test-driving the car to see if their efforts are successful. The Switch EV’s unique design allows institutions to disassemble and reassemble it as needed for other classes.

The Switch Lab^™ teaches students about an EV’s power and limitations, building realistic expectations around its capabilities.

Included is a curriculum that teaches students how to build and operate an EV, starting from the fundamentals of electricity, working with relays and conductors, assembling an operational dashboard, and other essential knowledge. Instructors can modify the curriculum to best support their learning program, goals, and objectives, allowing for more flexibility than typical educational courses.

Switch Vehicles holds one-week hands-on workshops across the country to instruct teachers on the design, build and testing of The Switch EV to help them grasp its full potential and to prepare them to teach their students. Through The Switch Lab^™ workshops teachers are better equipped to handle the future concerns and obstacles faced by their students. The workshops are taught by Switch Vehicles’ trained, tested, and certified Switch Instructors. To optimize and scale the training process, the organization is setting up regional training centers in addition to the ones located in Colorado and California.

We teach the skills and knowledge that are going to be required for them to pass tests and to get certified for the workplace

“When implementing new technology, the user base, who are teachers in this case, must be familiarized with it before it can be successful. That’s what we handle,” says Oliver.

Acting as a magnet through its EV kits, Switch Vehicles engages students across the spectrum of learning ability and gives them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build and drive an electric vehicle. One teacher humorously complained that his students’ interest in the EV kit made him spend extra time in school to monitor their activities as they excitedly tinkered with it before and after class hours. In another school, a student returned to high school after previously dropping out to participate in Switch Vehicles’ EV program, and eventually graduated.

Dedicated to spreading the knowledge of EVs, the organization regularly hosts ‘Switch Days’ where instructors and students gather to learn about and test-drive vehicles. Switch Vehicles is in the process of organizing a competition between colleges to exhibit the quality of their Switch EV builds and to discuss the technology. Since the relevance and interest around EVs grows daily, Switch Vehicles helps students get acclimated with the novel technology and prepares them for the demands of today’s world. Carrying practical experience and critical engineering knowledge in an interview puts applicants ahead of other fresh graduates. Schools, and school districts, looking to cultivate the next generation of engineers can confidently turn to Switch Vehicles for their out-of-the-box EV kits.