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GM Offering 18 Flex Fuel Models in US for MY2009
28 June 2008
GM will offer 18 flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) in the US for model year 2009, ranging from the four-cylinder Chevrolet HHR small crossover to the full-size Cadillac Escalade ESV luxury utility.
We continue to believe that biofuels, specifically E85, is the most significant thing we can do in the near-term to offset future energy demands. We are on target to make 50% of our vehicles flex-fuel capable by 2012 providing the infrastructure is in place.
—Beth Lowery, GM vice president of Environment, Energy and Safety Policy
Infrastructure includes both the availability of the E85 fuel and stations where it is sold. Currently, there are more than 1,600 E85 stations throughout the US.
GM has sold 3 million of the 7 million flex-fuel vehicles in the US. The company produced more than 1 million flex-fuel models in North America and Brazil last year. The MY2009 FFV models are:
Chevrolet: Avalanche, Express, HHR, HHR Panel, Impala, Silverado, Suburban, Tahoe
GMC: Savana, Sierra, Yukon, Yukon XL
Cadillac: Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT
Hummer: H2, H2 SUT
Buick: Lucerne
June 28, 2008 in Brief | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
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Comments
Great. GM has found a way to make Hummers have even worse gas mileage.
Posted by: The Scoot | Jun 28, 2008 9:54:32 AM
Wow - who cares? I guess this is just a reminder that GM is still wasting engineering resources on things that have no effect at all, except to increase their net operating loss.
Posted by: dollared | Jun 28, 2008 9:58:31 PM
While the questions of GM's continuing investments into flex fuel vehicles are valid, there are a few good reasons why GM should continue this strategy.
1) Brazilian market: ~90% of new cars are flex fuel.
2) Studies have shown that moderate levels of ethanol (ie E20, E30) can improve engine thermal and fuel efficiency.
That said, it would be GM's interest to reinvest in turbo and supercharging to downsize engines. Combined with higher octane ratings of ethanol blended fuels, even higher fuel efficiencies are attainable. Stop start and hydrogen supplementation systems are two other relatively low cost systems that GM can add to reduce fuel consumption.
High Fuel prices and the housing downturn is killing the demand for SUVs, light trucks and vans.
Posted by: allen_xl_z | Jun 29, 2008 8:40:42 AM
