GM Readies Ethanol-Powered Full-Sized Pickups
General Motors Corp. has announced that its next incarnations of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra will roll out with the option to run on ethanol fuel. Read More
General Motors Corp. has announced that its next incarnations of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra will roll out with the option to run on ethanol fuel.
According to GM, this offering means it is the only automaker to have a full-size E85 pickup in its fleet. Vehicle production is expected to begin in early 2002.
E85, which is a renewable fuel made from starch crops such as corn, helps reduce air pollution and America’s dependence on foreign oil. In addition, E85 vehicles meet U.S. Department of Energy mandates for alternative fuel vehicles. GM notes that the E85 Silverado and Sierra join GM’s E85- compatible truck lineup: the Chevy S-10 and GMC Sonoma compact pickups, the Chevy Tahoe and Suburban, and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL sport-utility vehicles.
GM says the E85 compatibility feature will be offered as a special equipment option on select 1500 series Chevrolet Silverados and GMC Sierras equipped with the 5300 Vortec engine.
is domestically produced from agricultural products, so the supply of ethanol is virtually unlimited, GM says.
The use of ethanol can help reduce overseas oil imports. Today, ethanol is made primarily from corn, but in the future it could also be produced using waste wood, sawdust or grasses, or any cellulose containing materials.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency studies have shown that high-blend ethanol fuels can reduce harmful exhaust emissions by more than 50 percent.
There are thousands of E85 vehicles on the roads in America, logging millions of miles every year. E85 vehicles are flexible-fuel vehicles, meaning they will run on whatever is in the tank, from 100 percent gasoline to 85 percent ethanol. They run best on E85.
Tom Stephens, GM vice president of vehicle integration engineering, said, “Using E85 makes sense because it is a renewable transportation fuel. Although GM’s E85 compatible vehicles can use gasoline, we want to encourage the use of E85 whenever possible.”
Currently, the Chevrolet S-10 and GMC Sonoma 4-cylinder pickup trucks are GM’s E85-compatible vehicles.
Environmental News Network contributed to this report.
