DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) – It’s an experience no other school in the state offers. High School students at Milton Hershey School are building an electric vehicle.

“It’s really neat to get the kids exposure in this area of work and kids are really excited…at the end of the semester we get to drive it and see a functional vehicle that they built with their own hands,” said Milton Hershey School engineering and design teacher Frank Komykoski.

“I’m really excited. This is like it makes my the whole license worth it,” said senior Yanni Chau.

Since January, five students at the Milton Hershey School have been building a three-wheeled switch vehicle.

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“The kit comes completely disassembled and we work through building it from the ground up and working through all the different automotive concepts and then the electrical concepts that come with electrical vehicles,” said Komykoski.

The class is made up of students studying automotive technology and engineering and design through the school’s Career and Technical Education program. It offers twelve career pathways and prepares students for the future.

“The engineering students may not have had the experience in the automotive area, like assembling and bleeding brakes, for instance, the engineering students might have a little more experience in the electrical side of things,” said Komykoski.

The students admit it hasn’t been easy.

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“The process of figuring out things because the instructions aren’t as straightforward as you would like them to be,” said Chau.

But in the end, they’re thrilled with this opportunity.

“The aspect of like watching it like get built up, like, if you came in last week the seats weren’t in… working on the brakes and like just things that I would never gotten the chance to, get the chance to experience without if we like didn’t have this course here,” said senior Peryn Yanu.

So, what’s next?

“This week we’re starting into the electrical components, assembling all the low voltage panel assembly, the dash assembly, everything that we need to actually get the car to move,” said Komykoski.

The goal is to get the vehicle hit the road by the end of May.

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