Reported by Ann Rascalli

The nascent electric vehicle industry in Colorado is getting a major boost from ARRA stimulus funding,.

According to an announcement from the Obama Administration, our state will receive $50 million of an overall $2.4 billion in funds designed to accelerate the development and deployment of advanced electric-drive vehicles.

Roughly $1.5 billion will be funneled through the DOE to several companies and education institutions, including Frederick-based UQM Technologies Inc. - which is getting slightly more than $45 million in funds. The publicly-traded company develops advanced batteries and components for electric vehicles and has been involved with production applications in this technology area for many years.

Colorado State University is also benefiting to he tune of a $5 million grant to help educate the public and train technicians to work on hybrid and electric vehicles.  The grant is expected to create 85 jobs, most of them training positions, said Gary Caille, director of the systems solution group at CSU Ventures, a nonprofit affiliated with the university.Other educational organizations that will work with CSU on the program include Douglas County School District and Arapahoe Community College.

It is not yet known when CS will receive the grant money and initiate the program.

According to a university official, there is a national shortage of educational opportunities for students interested in working with electric and hybrid vehicles, and this funding will help instruct students from high-school level all the way up to grad school. Some of the vehicle applications feature batteries that generate a level of voltage normally found in high-voltage wires rather than gas-powered cars and trucks.

Jerry Viola, director of the automotive technician program at Arapahoe Community College, told the Denver Post, “Technicians must know how to work on them without getting fried. They carry enough voltage and amperage to not only kill you immediately but to cook all the muscles in your body.”

Viola says a portion of the training will take place at a donated Burt Automotive Network location in Parker.