WWU team competing for $10 million prize for super-fuel-efficient car

On the first trip, they towed their custom-built hybrid car from Bellingham to Detroit in a trailer.

On the second trip, they saved money by driving it instead.

The handful of Western Washington University students laughed when they realized they actually spent more money hauling their lightweight hybrid, called the Viking 45, than they would have if they'd just driven it — because the car, which has a body akin to a Ferrari and the engine of a Honda Insight hybrid, gets 100 miles to the gallon.

The students make up the only college team still in the running for the X Prize, an international competition designed to find a super-fuel-efficient car that will reduce Americans' dependence on oil and change the future of transportation. The team will be in Detroit on Sunday for the competition finals. At stake: a $10 million prize for Western's Vehicle Research Institute.