The electron kinetics in hypersonic plasmas is modeled by solving the time-dependent electron Boltzmann equation for the electron energy distribution function (EEDF). This plasma is created by strong shock compression of the gas in front of a vehicle moving with hypersonic speed. The main source of energy for the electrons is gas heating due to elastic collisions and second-kind collisions (de-excitation) from vibrationally excited states of N2. We established that the electron energy distribution function is most sensitive to vibrational level populations. At mid-altitudes (tens of kilometers), the electron temperature equilibrates with the vibrational temperature on a microsecond timescale. The electron distribution function reaches steady state on a comparable timescale. Numerical simulations of air plasma showed that the electron energy distribution function is far from Maxwellian and the collision rates differ by orders of magnitude from those computed with a Maxwellian distribution. The two most important parameters for the electron kinetics and the electron energy distribution function are the vibrational temperature and ionization degree.