Report: Industry facing shortage of EV engineers

Jonathon Ramsey — Wed, 12 May 2010 08:39:00 EST

It was to be expected, but the rapidly changing auto industry is experiencing a shortage of mechatronic engineers to assist with the development of EV cars and systems. As it is, there are plenty of electrical engineers and mechanical engineers, but those who are adept at integrating mechanics and electronics - in areas like battery management and algorithms - are desperately needed.

Several universities, especially in the Detroit area, have inaugurated or will soon begin programs to graduate these kinds of engineers, but in the meantime it's every EV company for itself when it comes to finding talent. Larger players like Chrysler don't appear to be worried, saying that programs will only be pushed back by a couple of years or so and that's only in the worst cases. Smaller EV companies with exceptional talent are a little more nervous, knowing what a big company can offer when it wants to poach. If you're a skilled electromechanical engineer, it might be time to ask for a raise no matter who you work for...

[Source: Ward's Auto]

Report: Industry facing shortage of EV engineers originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 12 May 2010 08:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: NHTSA doesn't have any software or electrical engineers on staff to investigate Toyota

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:58:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Recalls, Safety, Technology

"NHTSA officials told investigators that the agency doesn't employ any electrical engineers or software engineers."

So says The Washington Post, in a revelation that's at least shocking if nothing else. Consider your car for a moment. How many electrical connections and silicon bits are there making the whole kit-n'-kaboodle operate? Plenty, right? In fact, The Car Connection estimates that the average "modern luxury car has something close to 100 million lines of software code in it, running on 70 to 100 microprocessors." Though the quote about the government safety agency came out in the government hearings on Toyota safety, that figures to be worrisome news to all motorists, as modern vehicles from all manufacturers are more or less rolling computers, and their very movement is governed by computers that NHTSA apparently cannot begin to analyze - at least internally.

Hopefully, the report regarding the lack of electrical and software engineers at NHTSA was either misunderstood or incorrect. We have a feeling that's likely the case - in fact, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in his testimony on Capitol Hill today that the agency does at least have access to such engineers.

UPDATE: During today's remarks, LaHood said there was some confusion in his comments yesterday about a lack of electrical engineers. He has yet to divulge how many engineers NHTSA employs and there's still some question about software engineers. Updates to follow as we learn more.

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[Sources: The Washington Post, The Car Connection | Image: Alex Wong/Getty Images]

Report: NHTSA doesn't have any software or electrical engineers on staff to investigate Toyota originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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