FORT BEND ISD’S CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION

Fort Bend ISD’s Career and Technical Education Transportation Shop Earns Vehicle State Inspection License

David Borski, Manager of The Shop at the Reese Center.

The Shop at Fort Bend ISD’s James Reese Career and Technical Center recently earned the Vehicle State Inspection License, which allows students to perform state inspections on vehicles. Transportation students utilize The Shop as a Learning Lab to gain hands-on industry experience and obtain hours to earn various industry licenses including the new state inspector license.

Students must be 18 years old to apply to take the inspector license test, and this new opportunity provides extensive experience and training for the students in the Career and Technical Center program.

Obtaining the Vehicle State License was a six-month process, including an application process requiring The Shop’s manager to obtain a personal State Inspection License. Following the submission, the state’s Department of Public Safety inspected all aspects of The Shop, such as equipment inventory and facility safety, which earned a passing score.

The Shop is open Monday through Friday, from 8 am to 4 pm by appointment only. Service fees for the state inspection are: Emission Test: $20; Safety-Only Test (Trailer and Diesel-powered vehicles): $5

To schedule a car inspection and for more information, visit www.fortbendisd. com/theshop or contact David Borski at david.borski@fortbendisd.com or 281327-7326.

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By Steve Kursar

2021 BMW X5 xDRIVE45e

The 2021 BMW X5 xDrive45e PHEV is a type of vehicle that is becoming increasingly more popular on American highways. The newest addition to the BMW X5 family, the xDrive45, is a plug-in hybrid, a vehicle that you can recharge at home and drive a modest distance in all electric mode. However, if you need to drive farther, there’s a gasoline engine that will allow you to take long trips. It’s very efficient and tremendously eco-friendly with a super ultra-low emissions vehicle (SULEV) rating. All that adds up to a crossover that’s fun to drive.

BMW is the German car company famously known as designing the “ultimate driving machine.” The cars and crossovers they manufacture are built from the ground up to cruise at very high speeds on European highways, such as Germany’s Autobahn. Although we can’t legally drive as fast here in Texas, we can enjoy the handling characteristics of BMW cars at more reasonable speeds.

The 2021 BMW X5 xDrive45e, which is built in South Carolina, comes with a base MSRP of $65,400 and is available with a choice of only one powertrain. Under the hood there’s a 3.0 liter in-line six-cylinder engine mated to an electric motor to generate 389 hp. That’s powerful enough to get the X5 from 0-60 in 5.3 seconds which is pretty fast for such a large crossover.

So here’s the deal with a plug-in hybrid in case you’re a little confused. There’s a lithium-ion battery inside the crossover that can be charged by plugging it into an electrical outlet. Most plug-in hybrid owners get a 220 volt charging station installed in their home garage, which costs about $1,000. Once the X5’s battery is completely recharged, and that usually takes about 6-8 hours, you can drive the vehicle for about 30 miles before the gasoline engine takes over. So, if you have a daily commute within a 30 mile radius, a plug-in hybrid might be an ideal alternative for your next car.

If you’ve never driven a plug-in hybrid, once you test drive a X5 xDrive45e, you’ll be very pleasantly surprised. First off, in electric mode it’s completely quiet. Secondly, the electric motor gives the crossover immediate torque once you hit the accelerator so the X5 just takes off. And thirdly, you’ll make far fewer visits to your local gas station. A quiet, powerful and efficient crossover is what you’ll get with the new BMW X5.