CHARLOTTE -- The first graduates of Central Piedmont Community College’s Tesla START Program accepted their diplomas, Friday.

The 13 graduates are the first to participate in Tesla START, a 12-week, immersive program to train technicians for work at Tesla service centers.

CPCC president Kandi Deitemeyer says the college is ready to scale up the program.

“So we're going to have conversations about that, hopefully,” Deitemeyer said. “And if we need to hire more faculty and make sure that we can help [Tesla] have a well skilled, talented workforce, we want to have that conversation."

About a dozen students will be a part of CPCC's next class of Tesla START, which begins May 14.