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Granite Falls students design car that gets 1,115 miles per gallon

How does 1,000 miles per gallon sound?
Granite Falls High School students Kelsey and Orion Green built a car with a fuel efficiency of 1,115 miles per gallon.

Forget about dreams of having a car that gets 50 or 100 miles to the gallon. Students at Granite Falls High School are primed to design a car that can do ten times that.

Kelsey Green and her brother Orion are part of the school's Eco Car class and are teaming up to design one of the most fuel efficient vehicles on the planet. The two admit though they don't always agree about who's in the driver's seat.

"She's like, 'I've been driving for two years. You know nothing,'" Orion, a sophomore, said with a chuckle.

"We kind of butt heads sometimes, but we always figure it all out," said Orion's senior sister.

So far, the class has built a single-passenger car (that looks more like a rocket ship on wheels) with a fuel efficiency of 1,115 miles per gallon.

The Granite Falls students are competing against high schools and colleges from across North and South America in what's called the Shell Eco-Marathon – using aerodynamic, super-lightweight designs. Last year's winner produced a vehicle that topped 2,500 miles-per gallon.

"Our generation is pushing boundaries," said Orion. "What we want to do is create a car that is an inspiration to the car industry, in general, so they make one for everyone to use."

The competition begins April 19 in Sonoma, Calif.

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