Students in Wallace State’s Diesel Technology and CDL programs pose with WSCC faculty, staff and guests at the unveiling of the Diesel Technology program’s first EV truck, a Kenworth T680E purchased from Truckworx, and the first such truck purchased in the state of Alabama.

Wallace State recently purchased, from Truckworx, a Kenworth a T680E Class 8 heavy duty electric vehicle for its electric vehicle curriculum in the Diesel Technology program. The new piece of equipment is the first sold in the state of Alabama.

“This will give our students the opportunity to see something that no one in the field has seen yet,” said Wyatt Swann, chair of the Wallace State Diesel Technology program.

The purchase was made with funds provided in a three-year, $1.3 million grant by the Appalachian Regional Commission.

“Over the timespan of the grant, Wallace State aims to provide comprehensive training to as many as 230 students in the safe handling and maintenance of high voltage vehicles and batteries,” said Associate Dean of Technologies Jerry Murcks. “The initiative encompasses both prospective technicians who will enroll in our programs and the upskilling of current technicians already working in the field.”

Truckworx representative Heith Pike noted the inevitability of the increase in electric vehicles in the trucking industry and the importance of having the technicians to keep trucks running.

“Wallace State has provided us with great technicians,” Pike said. “Almost every single location that Truckworx has a graduate from the Wallace State diesel program.”

Wallace State also accepted a $44,000 donation from the Cullman Electric Cooperative. Brian Lacy, the Co-Op’s Manager of Communication and External Affairs said the funds came the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Community Care Fund. The funds will be used to install two electric vehicle charging stations on the Wallace State campus.