Riverside City College holds electric vehicle Show to introduce new tech opportunities
Riverside Community College made way for an innovative tech day as they showcased a variety of electric cars for distance learning students April 26. This effort was made to assist them in understanding the campus and what it has to offer automotive tech-wise.
This new program influenced more online students to interact on campus and be present with more accessible transportation. The main goal of the event was to expose online students to the campus and the learning opportunities there are to offer.
One of the organizers of the Electric Vehicle Car show was Dean of Distance Education and Educational Services, Shawna BuShell, who explained, “We have to do things that first introduce the concept, give you an opportunity to touch it and feel it. If we keep you online there’s disconnection, to keep them engaged there must be some kind of hands on experience.”
“Fifty-Two percent of distance learning students are African American… this event helps offer easier exposure to tech careers,” BuShell said.
A hands-on approach has been needed for online students and this event helped connect them to industry trends and align them to possible career paths to follow in the future. The event had sponsors lined up and down the RCC parking lot, where they set up brand-new electric vehicles for show and tell. This included multiple swag giveaways and even the opportunity to drive some cars yourself.
Sponsors ranged from BMW, Chevrolet, Acura, Tesla, EV Gide and more to assist in presenting their cars. Each brand featured a unique electric vehicle, an array of colors and different builds. Looking at the Acura Car that has a 3D printed Lip, Butt, and Wing owned by Coco Zurits. Zurits said, “I hope this event helps intrigue more people to the auto-community,”.
One specific brand, EV Gide, is a potential sponsor for RCC’s new EV program that is planned to begin in the Fall of 2025. The program will offer an electric vehicle, either a Tesla or Chevrolet and give RCC students the ability to rent the cars out for personal use. Whether it be for grocery shopping or day trips, RCC will have extremely affordable transportation designated for responsible drivers in the near future.
A spokesperson for EV Gide, Ali Cooper, explained more about what this could mean for students.
“The concept is a community car share, where we would brand the car in alignment to the RCC brand,” he said. Potentially a tiger paw or a logo to signify that it is a car share associated with the campus to signify to students and staff. This would allow for a user-friendly experience to ensure that all of the vehicles are officially licensed with RCC.
In addition “An EV in this program is estimated to rent typically $7- 0 an hour. Income-qualified students won’t have to pay at all for EV usage, some as low as $5 an hour,” he said.
According to EV Gide the program responsible, Clean Mobility Options, has been put into effect thanks to the California Air Resources Board in attempts to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the state. EV Gide’s main goal is to serve underprivileged communities in order to provide a more affordable alternative to these expensive vehicles.
“Our cars will be available in libraries and potentially RCC campus very soon,” Ali said. These cars would highly benefit the RCC community with a simple-use app and lenient pricing.
The tour of the RCC Automotive Tech Garage taught students about the importance of safe engineering and guests were debriefed on the jobs and classes RCC has to offer.
