Road to100-mpg car

Fountain Hills High School's Research Club is building a car it hopes will reach 100 miles per gallon.

Club reaches $65K; car gets engine

What they do: The Fountain Hills High School club, in existence for five years, has worked on various projects besides the experimental 100-mpg car, including studying solar panels. Paul McElligott, a chemistry and physics teacher at Fountain Hills, sponsors the club.

Update: The club has reached $65,000 in donations over the past five years, with money from Toyota Motor Corp., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fountain Hills' Golden Eagle Foundation, AFV Tech Inc. of Phoenix, Kelly Automotive of Mesa, CCR Composites of Phoenix, Arizona State University and the Salt River Project.

"The fact that almost half of it came this year means we're picking up a lot of momentum," McElligott said.

Richard Carney of Fountain Hills and a consultant for Milwaukee's Briggs & Stratton Engines, heard about the experimental-car project. Briggs & Stratton has pledged to donate a compressed natural gas (CNG) engine to the car.

"We'll pick a generic engine and then build it to suit the car," said Carney, who will provide technical support for the project.

What's next: The club will display the car in Fountain Hills' Thanksgiving Day parade this month. Members hope to have the car finished by March.

Learn more: Visit McElligott's Web site, .pjmcelligottcom.com . To donate to the project, checks can be made out to Fountain Hills High School, c/o of the Research Club, and mailed to: Fountain Hills High School, 16100 E. Palisades Blvd., Fountain Hills, AZ 85268. To lend engineering expertise, contact McElligott at 480-664-5573.

Josh Brocksen helps work on a car being built by the Fountain Hills High School's Research Club.