WWU's X Prize car was cut in the final round, but for the team it was a victory

The Viking 45, center, lines up for safety testing with other X Prize finalists earlier this month. (Courtesy of Western Washington University)

Western Washington University's Vehicle Research Institute has a long tradition of building innovative cars and entering them in competitions. So when a $10 million contest to build a highly fuel-efficient car was announced in 2005, the program's director knew his students would be taking a shot at it.

Five years later, the 21 WWU undergrads who built the Viking 45, a sporty and aerodynamic plug-in hybrid, surprised their competition and themselves by making it to the final round of the Progressive Automotive X Prize -- the only U.S. student team to do so.

The WWU team poses with the Viking 45 at the X Prize finals. (Courtesy of Western Washington University)

The team was eliminated from the contest on July 26, when it failed to make it through safety trials. But as the students returned from Detroit's Michigan International Speedway to a welcome-home celebration on campus the first week of August, they were anything but disappointed.

"The whole experience was really great," says 22-year-old team president Brent Wise, who graduated in June. "I've seen it grow from an idea to fruition, and it's been great to be able to experience the whole process of building a car."

The X Prize contest was created to spark innovation in the auto industry and inspire a generation of safe, fuel-efficient vehicles capable of exceeding 100 mpg. These wouldn't just be concept cars, but vehicles with actual production potential.

Vehicle Research Institute Director Eric Leonhardt says the car they came up with was one of the most fuel-efficient vehicles in the race, and the only hybrid to make it to the finals.

The Viking 45, constructed over two years for about $50,000, is made of lightweight carbon fiber left over from Boeing's new 787 Dreamliners and runs off a Honda Insight electric engine. The zippy two-seater runs about 40 miles on an electric charge; for longer trips it switches to gas, getting up to 111 mpg.

When the contest began in April, the Viking 45 was up against 35 other vehicles (from an original pool of 136) -- most of them made by longtime industry pros with a lot more money and experience behind them.

Western squeaked through the "Shakedown Stage" with an unfinished car that still needed a lot of work. But after more than 100 fixes and a badly needed coat of paint, the team returned with a car that was clearly worthy of competition.

"Almost every single part on the vehicle was hand-built by students, and that's what really set us apart," Wise says. "It was cool to rub shoulders with the guys that were the big hitters in the industry -- and a lot of them were blown away."

After making it through the second "Knockout Stage," team members drove the car to Connecticut and back to get some engine-performance advice from Honda Insight engineer Mike Dabrowski. At that point, they were one of 15 teams left.

At the finals about three weeks later, however, the Viking failed to successfully navigate a series of cones within the allotted number of tries.

"I don't think anyone really believed we'd get this far," Leonhardt says. "I certainly believed we could, but I'm not sure anyone else really believed that. So I think that we really impressed everyone."

For his part, Leonhardt is returning to work on other projects, like a methane fueling station and a fleet of hybrid buses.

As for Wise and his teammates, who are hoping to use the connections they made in Detroit to get jobs in the alternative- and electric-vehicle industry, the road ahead is wide open.