US States Are Creating a Pipeline of Trained EV Workers — Here Are the Emerging Trends

The report identifies five key trends in the development of the U.S. electric vehicle workforce pipeline, focusing on Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Tennessee. It finds that public community and technical colleges are the primary providers of training, with a heavy emphasis on vehicle maintenance and repair over manufacturing and charging. The analysis highlights a wide variance in enrollment requirements and program durations, ranging from 20-hour online courses to two-year degrees. It also identifies three critical industry certifications—ASE, AWS, and NIMS—and describes how state-level policies and private investments are driving the creation of these educational pathways to support the transition to zero-emission vehicles.

• Public community and technical colleges are the primary drivers of EV workforce training. Of the 196 identified programs in the five studied states, 88% are at public institutions, and 75% of those are two-year institutions.
• EV-specific training is most concentrated in vehicle maintenance and repair, with fewer programs dedicated to vehicle manufacturing or charging infrastructure.
• Training commitments vary significantly by program type: certificate programs can range from a few weeks to two years, while some specialized certifications are as short as 20 hours.
• Three industry-recognized credentials are central to EV workforce expertise: the Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) for technicians, the American Welding Society (AWS) for robotic welding in manufacturing, and the National Institute of Metalworking Skills (NIMS) for advanced manufacturing tools and machinery.
• State governments are using specific funding and policy goals to build talent pipelines. North Carolina aims for 1.25 million zero-emission vehicles by 2030, while Nevada's GOED has allocated over $17 million for training in areas like battery manufacturing.
• Michigan has established the Electric Vehicle Center (EVC) at the University of Michigan as of 2023, supported by a $130 million investment from the state's Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.

APA

World Resources Institute (2025). US States Are Creating a Pipeline of Trained EV Workers — Here Are the Emerging Trends. https://www.wri.org/insights/electric-vehicle-training-programs-trends

Chicago

World Resources Institute. US States Are Creating a Pipeline of Trained EV Workers — Here Are the Emerging Trends. 2025. https://www.wri.org/insights/electric-vehicle-training-programs-trends.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=US States Are Creating a Pipeline of Trained EV Workers — Here Are the Emerging Trends |date=9 January 2025 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/electric-vehicle-training-programs-trends |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2025states, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{US States Are Creating a Pipeline of Trained EV Workers — Here Are the Emerging Trends}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/electric-vehicle-training-programs-trends}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }