Sarnia's Northern Collegiate is the only Canadian high school at the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas in California.
The event showcases the future of energy and some extremely efficient vehicles.
The students have been hard at work modifying their vehicle to include a new pneumatic system, firewall, and a GPS tracking device.
Driver Maria Peregoudov is confident the car will perform at a high level.
"We know that the car can actually achieve 800 miles per gallon," says Peregoudov. "On one of our unofficial runs we got over 800 but, on the very last lap, our collection unit stopped and we weren't able to complete that last lap. However, we know that our car is capable of that and now that we're making more modifications, our goal is to even push 1,000 miles per gallon."
Peregoudov says 800 miles per gallon would have placed them in the top ten in last year's competition.
She says the car has come a long way since the styrofoam body was first constructed three years ago.
The event is being held April 19 to 22 in Sonoma, California.