Staff and students were given the opportunity, over three days, to evaluate an all electric, 4wd, fully road legal vehicle, the vehicle was supplied by ePowerTrucks of Bathgate.

Lecturers and students were given a run through of controls etc. and then let loose on the purpose built ATV track. Level 2 agriculture students all drove round the course and gave feedback to Ross Sommerville who is the area sales manager for ePowerTrucks, including how it handled the course and what they thought of the vehicle.

Rural Mechanic students also had a session on the vehicle and did a comparison between the college’s petrol Yamaha and the ePowerTruck. They found the electric vehicle’s off road capabilities matched the Yamaha, they were impressed with the regenerative braking which put charge back into the batteries, but most importantly, gave much better control when coming down steep ground and not having to use the brakes.

Second year Motor Vehicle apprentices who are currently working on the electrics part of their course took a trip to Newtown St Boswells campus to have a look at the workings of the vehicle and the battery layout, they then had a discussion on hybrid vehicles, the future of vehicle technology and the importance of green energy.

Initially the vehicle was to be tested to gauge the length of time battery life would last in the teaching environment i.e. a three hour session, but overall impressions, both by students and lectures, was that it exceeded expectations and would be a useful piece of equipment around the farm with good off road capabilities as well as being cheap to run.