SHIFTING GEARS: North Carolina seeks a front-row slot as the automotive industry electrifies.

• Author: Barkin, Dan

It has been a year since Wake Technical Community College dedicated the $42 million Hendrick Center for Automotive Excellence in north Wake County. Since then, Wake Tech has tripled the number of students in its automotive systems technology program and added a new degree program in collision repair.

In March, the college received a $939,041 federal grant to help jump start the Hendrick Center's electric vehicle training program. It was part of the $1.7 trillion spending bill signed by President Joe Biden in December.

The grant comes amid an obvious transformation of the economy from gas-powered cars and trucks to electric vehicles. Electric cars have gone from being something exotic to something that requires trained technicians to service. The electric economy is evolving in places like the northern Wake County campus and throughout North Carolina. If the shift to electrics goes fast, a lot of work needs to be done fast.

The federal government's target is for half of all vehicles sold in 2030 to be battery electric, plug-in hybrids or fuel-cell electrics. Gov. Roy Cooper's goal is to have 1.25 million zeroemission vehicles in North Carolina by 2030. At the start of this year, there were about 54,000 zero-emission vehicles, including 38,400 electrics, and 15,600 plug-in hybrids, according to state registration data. Hitting Cooper's target will require big changes on car lots around the state.

But inventories are increasing as car manufacturers scramble to roll out EVs with more millennials hitting peak earning and family-formation years. Gen Z's are right behind. Many folks may be driving their last gasoline car right now. That has everyone's attention in car factories, dealerships, oil-change shops, convenience stores and state highway departments fueled by gas taxes.

North Carolina is emerging as a center of electric-vehicle technology. Toyota is building a $3.8 billion battery plant near Greensboro in a...