Imagine how much money you'd save on gas if your car got 1,000 miles per gallon.
That's the goal of the University of Michigan's Supermileage Team. They're competing in the Shell Eco Marathon in Detroit next week.
"The race will be run right on the streets of downtown Detroit," Agney Deshpande, a student on the team, said. "We'll be going down Woodward Avenue. It's really cool to us just how historic that will be."
This is the first time the contest has been held in Detroit. Deshpande said the event being in Detroit might give them home field advantage.
"?This year Shell and the city of Detroit have worked together to bring the competition to the Motor City. We're very excited about that, it kind of brings it to our back yard, our home turf."
Their car is powered by a modified Honda lawnmower engine, and the vehicle's design is light weight and aerodynamic, to reduce drag.
The team has competed in four competitions in the past, but because of some technical difficulties they've only finished once. They've designed this year's car with that in mind, making it more robust and reliable than vehicles in the past.
The marathon runs from April 9-12 in Downtown Detroit. You can read more about the marathon here.
--Paige Pfleger, Michigan Radio Newsroom
