Paul Andrew, 54 has been an auto-electrician since he was 16, but while going to study at EIT | Te Pūkenga last year had its challenges, it has been a turning point in his automotive career.

Paul, who is from Hamilton and works at Collins Automotive in the city, enrolled in the NZ Certificate in Electric Vehicle Automotive Engineering [Level 5] late last year, at the encouragement of his boss, Jason Land.

“He tries to lead the way in the latest and greatest technology. I like to think that we are not too far behind dealer level. We’ve been touching on hybrid electric cars for, I would say, three years.”

“But because my boss believes we can do anything here and I’m quite capable, I’ve got a lot of experience, so it made sense for me to do this course.”

Paul says that he and Jason realise that the electric boom is on its way and it is important to achieve certification for future regulation.

He says that when they heard that the NZ Certificate in Electric Vehicle Automotive Engineering [Level 5] was being offered at EIT | Te Pūkenga, they jumped at the chance.

“It’s the best qualification you’re going to get in New Zealand and it also means we can continue as normal if EV high-voltage registration becomes a requirement.”

Paul, who is enrolled in the programme along with a colleague Dave Hewitt, says his “light bulb moment” regarding EVs came when a BMW EV came into the shop.

“I took it for a drive and I was actually stunned with the performance of it. For the two and a half years prior to that, if you’d asked me about an electric car, I would’ve said no way.”

“And then about six months later I drove another model around, which had an intermittent electric water pump fault and I found the performance blew me away. I’m a petrol head through and through, I love the sound of a  loud engine, but the silence of an EV can also be quite nice.”

Putting his money where his mouth is, Paul bought a new hybrid Mitsubishi vehicle just before he began the programme.

“Over the last six months we have quite a few EV electric faults coming in to our workshop, so it’s just a steep learning curve. I’ve got a new EV car that’s a steep learning curve and I’ve now started this EV course and I’m going to online Google Classroom that I’ve never even heard of before. So all of those avenues, they all just came together.”

Describing himself as a convert, Paul says: “I’m not a green person. I didn’t buy it for the fuel economy, I bought it for the technology as I’m a gadget person. “

“I log into my classroom on a Thursday night and we learn such a lot and all I can think about is trying it on my own car and hands-on testing in the workshop.”

Paul says that not having been in a learning environment for decades has had its challenges, but he has a very simple philosophy when it comes to studying.

“If I don’t understand, I just ask the question because it is most likely that someone else has also got the same question.”

The year-long programme began in September last year. While it is mostly online, there are also four two-day workshops at EIT | Te Pūkenga. Either way, Paul loves it all.

“I loved learning. I was like a sponge. Going down there to go hands on for two days in the workshop, man, it was awesome. I loved that too.”

Working with computers and online has had its challenges for Paul, especially when it comes to submitting assignments. He normally hand writes it all and gets his wife Liz to help him get it online. It also led to some confusion when he did not receive the results for his first assignment.

He did not realise that he needed to check his emails to see his results. When he did, he discovered his grade was 100%.

“The weight that took off my shoulders was incredible.”

EIT | Te Pūkenga Computing lecturer Steve Main said: “Paul and I are cut from similar cloth where we have seen amazing technological progress in the industry. I really enjoy catching up with him and his peers online every Thursday evening.”

“Paul has been a model student. He is engaged and dedicated to his studies like many of the students we have on the program. It’s fantastic to see employers like Collins Automotive supporting their staff and future proofing their business by investing in staff education and development.”

“The L5 National Certificate in Electric Vehicle is a brilliant program which I thoroughly enjoy teaching on. I really value from the students input as I learn from them as much as they learn from me.”