Autoblog

In Dallas, a businessman has spent half a million dollars to install nine pumps that dispense E85, E10, and biodiesel. The catch: the businessman is a HUMMER dealer, and the pumps are next to his dealership. The station is called Classic Clean Fuels, and it is intended to make a statement for next year's H2 and H2 SUT, which will be the first production models to be Flex-fuel capable.

You won't need to drive a HUMMER to get E85 at the station. The pumps are open to the public, a first for a dealer-owned gas station. By 2010, GM has said all HUMMERs will be biofuel-capable. GM plans to market 15 Flexfuel models next year, but only one percent of the country's service stations sell E85. GM is using that as an opportunity to open the public's (and dealers') minds to putting alternative fuel stations in alternative places.

Said GM's Larry Burns, "Down the road we may even want to consider hydrogen dispensers at dealerships."

[Source: Auto News, sub req'd]

Our friend Mike Levine, proprietor of PickupTruck.com, was trying out the new H3T pickup out in Moab, Utah this week and learned that the H3 will finally lose its hoary old five-cylinder base engine in favor of something a little more modern. A new flex fuel-capable direct-injected 3.6L V6 like the one used in the HX concept will become the new base powerplant for the H3 by 2010. The last remaining question is, will the H3 get a diesel? The answer is yes... eventually. We spoke with HUMMER's Martin Walsh at the New York Auto Show this week and a diesel is in the cards for the H3, and it will be different than the diesel six-cylinder being used in Europe. Since the 4.5L fits in anything that GM's small-block V8 does, the European diesel six is possible, but a smaller diesel seems more likely. To that end, we've heard rumors since last spring of a new diesel V6 being developed for use in the H3. We don't know when it's ultimately going to arrive, but it will, and change is clearly afoot on the powertrain side at HUMMER.

[Source: PickupTruck.com, Photo: Alex Núñez]

Robert Zubrin thinks so. Zubrin is an aerospace engineer and long-time advocate of manned missions to Mars. While going to Mars is a highly dubious proposition given the issues we need to deal with on our planet right now, making all gasoline engines flex-fuel capable as Zubrin promotes in his new book is probably a very good idea. The incremental cost of flex-fuel capability is only about $100 per vehicle and that would provide the ability to use any alcohol fuel including methanol and butanol. The corn ethanol that we use today will make little if any dent in our oil imports.

Cellulosic ethanol, methanol and butanol do hold a lot of promise, though. Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit and his wife, Helen Smith, have an interesting interview with Zubrin on their podcast that's worth a listen. Some of Zubrin's arguments for using alcohol fuels are a bit over simplistic and ignore some of the pitfalls associated with them. That includes draining fields of nutrients if all the leftover material is converted to fuel. Alcohol fuels are unlikely to free us from oil dependence on their own, although they can make a dent. What they can really do is help diversify energy supplies and domestically produced fuels can also help to fund research into other renewable energy sources. What we really need to do, however, is find different ways to reduce our total consumption of energy while maintaining our current lifestyles. Let the flames begin!

[Source: Instapundit]

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With favorable tax incentives for biofuel-powered vehicles popping up across Europe, European manufacturers are making moves to take advantage of them. Renault recently launched its BioEthanol Megane hatchback, and now Citroën has unveiled is entry, the C4 BioFlex, which will go on sale in France next month. When it arrives, the stylish 5-door will be priced identically to its gasoline-only stablemates and will benefit from the same trim levels, as well.

Since Citroën already sells flex-fuel vehicles in Brazil, it didn't have to go to great lengths to source the powerplant in the C4 BioFlex. The 1.6L engine is imported from the Ethanol-happy South American country and makes 110 horsepower and 112 lb-ft of torque when run on E85 compared to 107 HP/108 lb-ft on gasoline. Performance when driven on gasoline only is said to be no different than what's experienced in the C4 1.6i 16V petrol-engined car. As is the case with other flexible-fuel vehicles, the C4 BioFlex can be operated on any fuel blend containing up to 85% Ethanol. It does consume more fuel than the gas-only car (24 mpg vs. 33 mpg), but Citroën claims that it's ultimately cheaper to run because of the price difference between E85 and gasoline.

Pricing has been set at €18,650 for the Pack trim, €20,000 for the Ambiance trim, and €22,140 for the Exclusive model.

[Source: Citroën]

Autoblog reader Josh sent us in a tip about Ford's new "Innovations" site, a testament to the company's investments in alternative fuels, safety, design and technology. So far, the site's only active offering is the alternative fuels area, where it boasts Ford's leadership in the development of vehicles that run economically on gasoline, E85, diesel, and in the future, hydrogen.

The site is both promotional and educational -- in the case of the alternative fuels area, the site talks about Ford's current and future product offerings for the various fuel types and even offers up a gas calculator that shows how far one can get on a tank of gas with each type of fuel in each class of vehicle (hydrogen wins out every time, by the way). There is also a timeline conveying Ford's past accomplishments in each of the four areas the company is highlighting on the site, including Ford's plan for the future.

[Source: Ford Motor Company]

In a wide-ranging announcement in Tokyo of programs to develop and market environmental technologies and environmentally-friendly vehicles, Toyota Motor Corporation pledged Tuesday to double the number of hybrid models in its product line in the next five years.

The company also said it is pushing ahead on the development of plug-in hybrids, and is currently working on a next-generation hybrid that is capable of a greater range of electric-only operation.

In parallel with its hybrid program, Toyota announced that it will completely revamp its gasoline engine and transmission lineup by 2010 to improve fuel efficiency and reduce exhaust emissions. As part of this initiative, the company unveiled a new 1.8-liter gasoline engine and continuously-variable transmission that will be its main powertrain for compact and midsize passenger vehicles, starting with new-model vehicles due out this fall.

With a nod to the flex-fuel alternative touted by U.S. automakers, Toyota announced a 2007 launch of flex-fuel vehicles for the Brazilian market that can run on 100 percent ethanol. The company also said it's considering flex-fuel vehicles for the U.S. market.

Looking ahead, the company said it is continuing its fuel cell development program, with current efforts focusing on practical drivability issues like cold-weather startup.

Looks to us like Toyota is following the classic strategy maxim, "Hit 'em where they ain't," exploiting its lead in hybrid technologies to take away future market share from competitors without as strong a hybrid product line, like General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. At the same time, the company is covering its bets with high efficiency gasoline-only engines and flex-fuel vehicles that raise the bar from E85 to E100.

[Source: Toyota]

Senior researchers from automakers around the world agree that internal combustion engines will dominate the automotive market for decades to come, even though hydrogen fuel cells are becoming an attractive replacement technology.

Volkswagen's Wolfgang Steiger predicted that fuel cell cars will not reach 1 percent of new car sales before 2030, growing to a 50 percent market share 20 years later. A DaimlerChrysler researcher was slightly more optimistic, forecasting a single-digit share of the new-car market as early as 2020. Ford Motor's Gerhard Schmidt swung the other way, saying a 50 percent market share by 2050 seemed optimistic.

Filling the gap? Hybrids. Toyota expects its hybrid sales to blow through the 1 million units a year milestone early next decade, with auto parts supplier Bosch forecasting hybrid sales of 2.4 million units a year by 2015.

Meanwhile, dramatic improvement in the efficiency of gasoline engines, together with the development of clean diesels, is giving the internal combustion engine a new lease on life.

With U.S. automakers well behind the power curve of hybrid technology development and product rollout (Ford's hybrids notwithstanding), basing their strategies on an ethanol-based transition to a hydrogen future could leave them on the outside looking in, provided hybrids gain the hearts and minds of car buyers in the next decade.

[Source: Reuters]

May new vehicle sales in Brazil were up 25 percent year-over-year, but the market share of flex-fuel vehicles fell for the second month in a row, to a mere 76.3 percent of the total.

The sale of flex-fuel cars fell a fraction of a percent as ethanol prices rose, but the next sugar cane harvest is underway and ethanol prices fell 11 percent in May, which is expected to boost flex-fuel vehicle sales going forward.

Not only do flex-fuel vehicles claim the lion's share of Brazil's new car market today, but the country's national automaker's association fully expects FFVs to account for 100 percent of Brazil's new car sales in the not-too-distant future.

Volkswagen apparently got the memo - earlier this week the automaker said it had ended production of gasoline-only cars and will now produce only flex-fuel models in Brazil.

Brazil produces ethanol fuel from sugar cane at roughly half the cost of U.S. ethanol. U.S. producers are protected by a hefty 54 cents-a-gallon tariff on imported ethanol.

[Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg]

The Governors Ethanol Coalition (GEC) is a group of U.S. governors and representatives from other nations that promotes the use of ethanol. General Motors, which began a partnership with the GEC last year, said last week it would extend that partnership.

Ken W. Cole, GM’s vice president for law and public policy, stated, "We are delighted to continue our work with the GEC on this important campaign to promote the use of E85 in states across the country. This partnership is just one of our many efforts to minimize the impact of our cars and trucks on the environment, including the 1.5 million GM vehicles already capable of using E85 fuel. GM will continue to work with organizations like the GEC to promote the use of E85 and the many available benefits for the environment, the economy and consumers."

General Motors will continue to loan E85 flex-fuel vehicles to GEC members as both organizations work to educate the public about the vehicles, the technology and the fuel alternative. GM also plans to add more than 400,000 flex-fuel vehicles to the road by year’s end.

[Source: Auto Spectator]