Email

Print

  Transport News

GM ups flex-fuel vehicle production to 850,000 a year

The 2011 Buick Regal will have flex-fuel capabilities

Motor manufacturer General Motors said it has increased its annual production of flex-fuel vehicles to more than 850,000 a year.

The move means the company is now making 55% more vehicles that can use E85 ethanol than it did in 2006.

The company said it has now made more than five million of the 7.5 million flex-fuel vehicles on the road in North America.

With the introduction of the 2011 Buick Regal this summer, it said it would be the first manufacturer to offer flex-fuel capability on a four-cylinder direct-injection turbocharged engine.

“Strongly committed”

The firm based in Detroit, Michigan, said it was “strongly committed” to biofuels, and is aiming to make more than half its vehicle production flex-fuel capable by 2012.

Mike Robinson, GM’s vice president of environment, energy and safety policy, said: “We continue to believe that biofuels are the best near-term solution to reduce dependence on petroleum, expand our nation’s energy portfolio and reduce the carbon footprint of driving.”

“We anticipate more than 8.5 million flex-fuel vehicles on the road by 2012, exceeding our pledge made in 2006 and the potential to reduce the CO2 footprint of driving more than 6.8 million tons per year.”

GM said it has invested in two advanced biofuels companies, Illinois-based Coskata Inc., and Mascoma Corp, which produce ethanol from non-food sources.