ARVIN, Calif. (KERO) — With ingenuity and teamwork, Arvin High School students are turning a pile of parts into fully drivable electric vehicles through an innovative after-school program.
Teachers Ty Newton and Thomas Lane joined forces to start the program, working with students to build electric vehicles from the ground up.
"Man, when the kids get out here, and get to working with their hands in the shop, everything just comes alive, their personalities, the fun, everything, they love getting out here and getting their hands dirty," Lane said.
For students like Jason Andrade, an Arvin senior, the experience has been eye-opening.
"To get to make it as a student is way better, you would never believe you could make a whole functioning car, like, it's just crazy to me," Andrade said.
By designing and 3D-printing parts and diving deep into electronics and circuitry, students are empowered to build, innovate, and dream bigger. Newton and Lane hope that inspiration turns into careers in the EV sector.
"Just so these students can see there are different opportunities, and a bunch of emerging opportunities in the EV industry, learn some basic knowledge of the components in the vehicles and how they operate together," Lane said.
The vehicles students build can reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour and have a battery life of up to 70 hours. For liability reasons, students aren't allowed to drive the cars, but they can ride in them with their teachers.
"Since they can't drive it, we did get these racing simulators," Newton said.
"The students can have an opportunity to feel what it's like to be behind the wheel," Newton said.
So far, students have built one EV and continue working on their second, which takes about a month and a half to build.
"With the teachers and the equipment we have, we got it done and we learned a lot," Andrade said.
Fellow senior Brizaida Jaime echoed the sentiment.
"It was a good experience and I really liked it, and I hope other students experience the same thing," Jaime said.
The students wanted to thank their workforce director for helping bring the project to life.
"Finally, we want to give a shout out to Miss Bennett for giving us the opportunity to have Mr. Lane and Mr. Newton as our workforce teachers. We hope everyone gets to experience something like this in the future," the students said.
From the classroom to the driveway, the next generation of EV experts is being built right here in Arvin.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere:
