EV Ambassadors
By Aaron He, NorCal Clean Cities Project Manager
What is EV Ambassadors?
As part of the workforce development initiative of the Clean Mobility in Schools (CMIS) Grant from CARB, NorCal Clean Cities and Communities, in partnership with Green Technical Education and Employment, created the EV Ambassadors program in November 2024 to hire students from Twin Rivers USD high schools to become subject matter experts and advocates for EVs, alternative fuels, and sustainable transportation. The primary objective for the EV Ambassadors was to attend and table at various community events to engage with attendees and speak with them about electric vehicles.
How did EV Ambassadors come to be?
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The process of implementing the program from its inception took around five months. During this time, Clean Cities and Green Tech collaborated to develop an online training curriculum for the Ambassadors to complete before their first event. The training, which was set up in Google Classroom, consisted of four sections of learning material (articles, videos, etc.) and unit quizzes at the end of each section to test the students’ comprehension of the material. The training covered important topics relevant to what the Ambassadors would be discussing at the events, including the basics of how EVs work, an EV’s range and state of charge, battery management, common misconceptions, and state and federal incentives to support EV purchasing. The final section of the curriculum covered incentives and required the students to write a short report on an interesting EV incentive in place of a section quiz.
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Pictured: EV Ambassadors tabling at Earth Day event
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In March 2025, the EV Ambassador program began taking applications. Six students were selected to be part of the first cohort of EV Ambassadors, consisting of students from Grant High School and Highlands High School. This marked the beginning of the pilot period of the program. At the end of the month, the Ambassadors were brought to their first community event, a site launch at the Bonnie Pannell Community Center for Our Community Car Share, an EV rideshare program offered by the Sac Metro Air District. There, the Ambassadors experienced what it was like to staff an informational booth, and toured tables at the event to engage with and learn about other community organizations and programs that they would work with in the future, including SacBreathe and the Air District.
For the rest of the pilot period, which ended in June, the Ambassadors attended a total of 7 events, reaching over 500 attendees. They also completed a public speaking training in April, which consisted of Green Tech public speaking instructors working with the Ambassadors to address common questions asked about EVs, and how to refer community members to online resources to learn more about alternative fuel technologies. The two largest events in the pilot period were Earth Day at Southside Park, which the Ambassadors attended in partnership with SacEV, and May Day in Del Paso Heights. At the Earth Day event, the Ambassadors greeted attendees at the beginning of “Electric Avenue,” an area where SacEV members had various electric cars on display, including a Ford Mustang Mach E and several Rivian trucks. The Ambassadors also promoted SMUD’s EV ride and drive, where community members could test drive electric vehicles for free.
For the rest of the pilot period, which ended in June, the Ambassadors attended a total of 7 events, reaching over 500 attendees. They also completed a public speaking training in April, which consisted of Green Tech public speaking instructors working with the Ambassadors to address common questions asked about EVs, and how to refer community members to online resources to learn more about alternative fuel technologies. The two largest events in the pilot period were Earth Day at Southside Park, which the Ambassadors attended in partnership with SacEV, and May Day in Del Paso Heights. At the Earth Day event, the Ambassadors greeted attendees at the beginning of “Electric Avenue,” an area where SacEV members had various electric cars on display, including a Ford Mustang Mach E and several Rivian trucks. The Ambassadors also promoted SMUD’s EV ride and drive, where community members could test drive electric vehicles for free.
Current Status of the Program
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Following the pilot period, many Ambassadors graduated, and two of them stayed with the program. Clean Cities and Green Tech submitted a proposal and budget to continue the EV Ambassadors project, and it was approved by the Air District and CARB. The two remaining Ambassadors then attended two events in August and October, both in partnership with the Clean Cars 4 All team from the Sac Metro Air District. The first was at Grace Baptist Church, which was a community day for churchgoers, where the Ambassadors promoted Clean Cars 4 All, a scrap-and-replace program for income-qualified Sacramento residents to help them buy electric vehicles. They did the same at the Oak Park Black Film Festival in October, where the Ambassadors again tabled with the Clean Cars 4 All team, introduced festival attendees to CC4A, and promoted a ride-and-drive that was being done by SacEV.
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Pictured: EV Ambassadors in-person training at Cal EPIC
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Following this period, Clean Cities and Green Tech sought to expand the EV Ambassadors program and began searching for the next cohort of Ambassadors. This was done through classroom presentations at Grant High School. Students in leadership and history classes at Grant learned about the program and its offerings and heard testimonials from current and previous EV Ambassadors. Through this recruitment, nine more EV Ambassadors were hired.
In December and January, the Ambassadors went through the same online training as the first cohort. In addition to this, they also completed in-person EV and “green careers” training at Cal EPIC. During a ten-hour training split into two sessions, instructor Ash Dalal trained the students on how EV motors work, the different levels of charging, and the principles of gear ratios and solar charging. The Ambassadors greatly enjoyed this method of in-person, hands-on instruction.
At the end of January, the students had the opportunity to tour the CARB Headquarters in downtown Sacramento. There, they learned about the history of the agency, its regulatory role, different career paths to a job at CARB, and the air monitoring work that CARB does across California. The Ambassadors are now working on a new project, an EV fact sheet, based on a new car sales fact sheet that includes vehicle specifications, to be displayed in EVs at community events.
At the end of January, the students had the opportunity to tour the CARB Headquarters in downtown Sacramento. There, they learned about the history of the agency, its regulatory role, different career paths to a job at CARB, and the air monitoring work that CARB does across California. The Ambassadors are now working on a new project, an EV fact sheet, based on a new car sales fact sheet that includes vehicle specifications, to be displayed in EVs at community events.
Pictured: EV Ambassadors at CARB warehouse, learning about AQM equipment
Concluding Thoughts
Overall, the Ambassador program has been a great learning experience for all who are involved. It gives students the opportunity to learn about new technologies that are becoming more prevalent each year and provides them with work experience to prepare them for their future careers.
To learn more about the EV Ambassador program, please contact [email protected].