With gas at $4 a gallon, it would cost about $9,600 to travel from Dallas, Texas to Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
But this month, students from UK's College of Engineering will make the trip without using a single drop of gasoline.
Led by project manager Matt Hatfield, engineering students will compete in the North American Solar Car Challenge, where 24 cars from around the world, including one from UK, will race 2,400 miles from Dallas to Calgary.
The car, Gato del Sol III, was completely engineered by students in the College of Engineering and over the next week it will be proving its mettle by contending in the 2,400-mile endurance test. Competition aside, the team's goal this year is solely to complete the race.
"I don't care if we come in dead last," Hatfield, a mechanical engineering senior, said. "If we cross the finish line we'll have done better then we ever have before."