Auto Career Development Center

Hello,

Testing each Li-ion cell for voltage after removing a VOLT battery pack.

It is May 1st  and  the VOLT was a big part of last month as I traveled in the VOLT to Montreal and helped a team of instructors remove a battery pack on a crashed VOLT.  There is no substitute for hands-on training. There are many levels of hands-on work but one thing is for sure you do need a shop and a broken car.  From there it can get very interesting as things either go your way or not. The not is the part we remember.

The VOLT is a marvel of putting a lot of parts in a small place so I can drive around my town without using oil. and seeing as my electricity is made from water power the carbon used is close to zero per mile. Wow!  You may have seen a lot of news lately about some states it would be better to use gas than electricity?  I wonder who put that our there. One Guess.

I keep hearing from most of my students that they want real hybrid cars to work on and the parts and scan tools to go with them. What do they like about ACDC?  We have all that stuff plus a lot more. It is 12 years plus since I taught my first hybrid class and I am still amazed at two things; 1. How little most people know about these cars. 2. How much I still have to learn.  So far this year I have spent over 6 days at SAE meetings learning with more to go. 

Up Your Voltage,                   

Craig, CEO of ACDC

2012 Honda Civic IMA System

Hello,

It is April 13, Friday and I have been home for 2 weeks after a five week trip to all corners of America.  From Boston to San Diego and then Seattle to Miami and back to Massachusetts.

This month I bought a 2000 Insight, Sliver 5 speed from the original owner. Robert and his wife and two kids dropped off the car.  My friend, Matt, made the deal while I was on the road. This car and Robert’s choice to buy it 12 years ago made me reflect on the past twelve years of hybrids and our culture. His new car is a used Prius.

When did the memo go out that a Pick-up truck with extra doors would be a great family car?  I missed that one. This Insight has 175,000 miles on it. It runs but the IMA light is on and the repair estimate from the dealership was high. This car averaged 60 mpg so it consumed 2,917 gallons of gas. Lets round it up to 3,000 gallons. At $4 per gallon (today’s rate) the fuel was $12,000.00 or a bit more than half the price of the car.  If your 4 door truck was parked during the week and the Insight was used for the commute of 15,000 per year as this car did, and your truck was a V8 4×4 with a towing package (most are) and you managed 15 mpg (I am being nice here) total gallons consumed were 11,666 so lets round it off at 11,500.  $4 a gallon is 46,000 dollars, really!  The Insight costs $22K plus the gas at $12K is $34k. That leaves you with 12K and a free car! Maybe rent a truck when you need it?  

Each gallon of gasoline burned in a car produces 19 pounds of CO2. CO2 is a greenhouse gas so the Insight added 55,423 pounds and the truck added 221,652 pounds of Co2. These numbers tell us a story about choices made a decade ago. It matters what you do today a decade later when it comes to the cars and trucks we drive.

Chose wisely, don’t be a fool, especially on April fools day.    

Thanks for visiting the ACDC site,

Craig Van Batenburg  

Hello from the West Coast,

It is March 20th and I have been on the road all month. I have visited Redding, CA with Ed Malazo. Ed is an Up Your Voltage (UYV) Graduate and is also an automotive instructor in this Northern California town. I taught a hybrid / EV class to a group of techs from 75 to 17 years old, really!  They cooked food on the grill and we had a great time. Today I am in Washington State having taught classes in Portland, Oregen and Salem, the capital city and B.C.  Bill Gastone allowed me to teach a three part class at the Oregon State Prison. That was an experience that is rare and thought provoking.  I have noticed that this year more techs than ever are more serious about hybrid and EV training. Why, I don’t know, but the first two UYV  classes were sold out before the end of January.  ACDC is adding staff to keep up with the demand.

I also have taught in many other towns along the way and will be heading for a cruise ship to Nassua with Deb at months end. This hybrid / EV business gets more interesting every day.

The ACDC Gen II Prius that is on the road with me has over 143K miles. It is amazing what you can load into this Hybrid and it still gets 44 mpg even fully loaded.  The new VOLT is also doing well and has over 20K and about 5,000 of then are EV miles. It has a lifetime average of over 52 mpg. One of the most patriotic acts you can do is buy a VOLT.  One of our ACDC graduates in Australia tells me the VOLT goes on sale there soon as a HOLDEN VOLT.  The future looks good.

On the road in the North West,

Craig

Want to hear what our students say ”a Short Video“   Read some of their notes sent to us over the years

Craig

I wanted to let you know that Up Your Voltage was top-notch training.  I attend a lot of training and I can honestly say that your class is the best I have ever attended.  The thing that impressed me the most was the organization of it all.  Everything I needed was at that hotel.  I didn’t have to go anywhere for meals or travel anywhere for the training sessions.  I didn’t even spend any money while I was there!  Craig delivered invaluable, intense, hands-on training which was a welcome relief from some of the watered-down training that is so popular in our industry today. So I thank you for a great learning experience.  Thank you for all the hard work in keeping us all content with food, shelter and everyday needs.   Thank you for the dedication you both have to not only the automotive industry but to the people you take in at your classes.   Sincerely, Dave Hauck

End of the Road for a VOLT ... when does the AWD version come out?

Hello Everyone,

It is February 18 and Deb and I have been in Duck, N.C. for  a week, taught another SOLD OUT Up Your Voltage (UYV) class in Sanford, NC. and driven many miles up and down the Eastern Coast. The weather is unseasonably warm (This Climate Change has some short term benefits) and as I struggle to lose 10 more pounds this year (lost 10 in 2011) I have been running on the beach and eating heathly but gained 5 pounds so far. But the main reason why I was in DUCK was to finish a heavy rewrite of our “2010 Understanding Hybrid Technology and Service Book” and bring it up to date for 2012 and include electric cars as well. It will be done next month. This year has already seen some amazing results as we have sold out the first three UYV classes before we have taught the first one.  Deb, Brian, Darcy, Mark and Mike have a lot to do with that feat. The West coast classes are also doing well and so are EV sales.  It is a wonderful place to be as I watch this electric revolution take hold. More later.

Craig

We are back from NC and dropped off our newly created ACDC classroom on wheels as we get ready for Up Your Voltage! XXVI. It is a new addition and will be used at many classes so that technicians can get a better a feel for the hybrid and EV parts. It seats 4 with plenty of space for our tools, scanners, laptops and cut away parts.

Craig Van Batenburg

The trip to Montreal to help fix a crashed VOLT was moved to April due to illness of my host up North.  Then off to Cincinnati, Ohio for more classes. Back home, some Webinars, lots of time finishing our 2012 Hybrid / EV Service and Technology Book.  Darcy, my sister, is the new editor and is doing a great job making it much more readable.

2011 was a great year for ACDC. We ended the year with our second best sales since ACDC was created over 12 years ago.

But most importantly our family is healthy. Deb and I are grandparents and love the kids. Our two sons continue to learn and grow.

Best to all of you in 2012.

LAST CLASS OF 2011 TORONTO

Happy Holidays,

It is the time of year to take stock in our priorities while we prepare for Christmas or just enjoy the Holiday Season. Deb and I just returned from Canada and have finished our classes in the Canary Islands, Las Vegas, the West Coast of the USA and our usual combination of work and fun. Winter is here and the company Prius II is waiting in SF for my return. The VOLT just got out of the body shop after a deer committed suicide on the right rear door and it did not burst into flames! 2011 was a busy year for us. As the world sees the benefits of changing our fleet from oil burning to wind, solor, or water powered mobility everyone is winning. We will still need liquid fuel for decades to come but why burn it when many trips can be made in a Volt or a Leaf? Hybrids cars will also be here as long as we use any liquid that costs over 3 dollars a gallon as the hybrid system saves you money. If your job requires you to know how hybrids or EVs work ACDC can help in that area.

So 2011 is almost over. Make sure you watch “The Revenge of the Electric Car”.  Take the time to write down your goals for 2012. Keep your chin up and look for creative ways to grow your business.

An E Mial we recieved form Hal Lewis

“Craig. We now service over 30 Hybrids on a regular basis thanks to YOU giving us the courage to do it, we haven’t encountered major problems with any BUT normal maintenance still pays off. You should check out the Solar LED Innovations company I am VP of Sales/product development. I will retire out of the Auto repair biz within the next 2 years, other interests are taking over.”

November is always a busy month for anyone is the Automotive business. It is Industry week and lots of buiness to do. You will find Deb and I in Vegas the first week and then Deb heads back to the office / home in Worcester (that is pronounced Woos’ta) in the beautiful State of Massachusetts.

Keep in mind that the fall colors here are like no other place and we are planning classes in the Berkshire Mountains in the fall of 2012. Stay tuned for those anouncements.

I will drive the ACDC Prius up to San Francisco and after 3 weeks of HYBRID/ EV Classes I will have a chance to see my brother, Clay, and his family. We may get to the SF Auto Show as I hear it will be in town.

I am often asked if I get tired of traveling so much. The short answer is NO, but the reason is I am so well supported at home.  Deb does a great job of making it all work.

And lastly ACDC is a big supporter of Foster Care Adoption.  Both of our sons (Mike and Will, age 20 and 26) were in foster homes before they became Van Batenburg’s. Please remember the plight of these often forgotten kids.  Tune into “Home for the Holidays” around Dec 20th or so. It is an annual show that will explain more about what you can do to help.

This month is the crazy one.  When it is over I will have flown over 16,000 miles and been coast to coast in America with a trip thrown in to the Canary Islands. Did you know that Hybrids and Electric cars are sold in over 100 countries.  ACDC now has a very busy International business. 37% of sales this year in outside the US. Good thing Deb and I are happy travelers. The people at our Church wonder if I really exist or is Deb making up stories.

An OHM meter will not do. ACDC has developed a simple test for these motors.

I start the month in LA with classes ending up in Las Vegas. That is where I left the Gen II ACDC Prius after I taught a class there. Then fly home and grab my wife and off to Madrid and the Canary Island. This is a convention of Swedish and Norwegian shops owners and techs. I visited some of them last June in Oslo.

Once Deb and I get back it is a short turn around and back to Las Vegas for Industry week that will include work for APRA, AAPEX, and working the booths for Midtronics, SupercooL and Magid Glove.  Deb and I love Vegas and always enjoy our time there.

In my spare time we are developing a better test for EV motors.

It is September and things are moving faster again.  Years ago (1999 – 2006) I taught an 80 hour class for my Home State called First and Edge. I met a 30 something tech / co-op shop owner named David Weber. I called him “Bio-diesel Dave” as he drove to class (some 60 miles each way) in a vegetable powered VW. Well now Bio-Diesel Dave calls me out of the blue and tells me he is an attourney. I was shocked and in need of one. Do you have an attorney that is also a Master Technician with L1?  Now I have some bragging rights.

Also ACDC is heading off to NH and Maine in the ACDC VOLT to teach our 8 hour class. Some more time in West Hawley, play with my PICO scope, scan the VOLT to see when it moved into MODE 4. All that important stuff that keeps me out of trouble.

September is also IMPA (International Motor Press Association) TEST DAYS. It is IMPA’s 50th year and this year we are heading to a private race track to drive cars fast and legal. What fun. Deb will be going with me.

Over 60 volts can be lethal. Use safety gloves and be careful.

ALT Wheels in Boston will take place as well and ACDC is going to learn more about HD hybrids and fleets. Things change a lot. We will also display our VOLT and let attendees take a spin.

At the end of the month you will find me in South Gate, CA. at VTS, a Spanish speaking school holding court with techs teaching  a new class we call High Voltage. 4 nights and a day long on Saturday. Julio Cardoza is the owner.  I will be on the West coast for two plus weeks.

August was a great month for ACDC as we offer our first WHAHT (West Hawley Advanced Hybrid Training) class. After class we all agreed it was as good as Up Your Voltage! (UYV) so we renamed it UYV XXIV.  It included all the classes, drinks, breakfast and lunch, snacks, cigars, 7 nights at a great retreat center, their own hybrid and the transportation to and from the airport, all power point training  materials on CD, the ACDC 2010 Hybrid manual, use of shop equipment, and an ACDC Master Hybrid Qualification Certificate  (if they passed the written test). The best part was the Deb inspired ACDC hospitality.

Also in August we cleaned the ACDC offices and I found some cool books I misplaced about the Honda Motor Company and took the time to drink some great beer, read a little and smoke cigars with Chris Horton and relax. I was home for a solid 6 weeks (the longest stretch since 2004).

The picture is three EVs for rent in Denmark.  Deb and I toured around that area after a buiness trip to Oslo, Norway.  The cost for a day of rental was only 20 US dollars.

A student sent us a note:

Floris van Acquoy (A 19 year old student from Holland)

Craig, First of all I would like to thank you for this evening. I would love to have more information about the hybrid reading (Class) we had last evening. I tried to talk to you after the reading but there were so many people, that I thought it would be better to email you. First I didn’t really care about the hybrid cars, but after the reading it totally changed. And I want to learn much more about it, and I loved to be in touch with you. This reading and all kind of teaching is what I want to do after I graduate for my technical specialist. And I really want to teach people more about hybrids and new kind of technology. I hope to hear from you Greetings, Floris van Acquoy

Craig’s note: Floris speaks two languages  (Dutch and English). He is in a 4 year graduate program in the Netherlands (What we mistakenly call Holland). The Dutch educational system for Automotive Technology is one America could use. At 19 he is fully trained in scopes and electronics. He is the rule, not the exception in his class.