GM, Kroger, and State of Ohio - allied for E85

[Flybrian]

FOR RELEASE: 2006-07-06

General Motors Announces Collaboration With State Of Ohio And Kroger Stores To Help Bring More E85 Ethanol Fuel To Key Areas Of The State

GM Provides Ohio with E85-Capable Chevrolet Tahoe for Educational Use

COLUMBUS , Ohio – General Motors today announced that it has facilitated plans for the addition of several new E85 ethanol fueling sites in central Ohio thanks to a collaborative partnership with Kroger Stores and the State of Ohio. GM has been the catalyst behind several similar partnerships across the country as part of a broader, national campaign to boost the use and awareness of ethanol-based E85 fuel in the United States. The announcement was made today at the 7000 East Broad Street Kroger Fueling Station in Columbus, where the first of these planned E85 ethanol pumps will be installed next month.

Ohio Governor Bob Taft presided over the event, during which he signed House Bill 245 into law in front of a new FlexFuel Chevy Tahoe. The new law will provide financial assistance to retailers adding or converting pumps to carry ethanol and biodiesel.

“We’re working hard to make Ohio a leader in the production and deployment of alternative fuels to reduce our dependence on imported oil and focus on fuels we produce here in our state,” said Gov. Taft. “In February, I announced a goal of tripling the number of E85 pumps in Ohio from six to 18 by the end of the year. Thanks to partnerships like this one with GM and Kroger, we expect to achieve that goal.”

Commenting on today’s announcement, Ed Wall program manager, FreedomCar and Vehicle Technology, U.S. Department of Energy said, “We congratulate General Motors, Kroger and Governor Taft in the formation of this partnership to bring renewable biofuel to consumers at more retail locations. The Department of Energy is dedicated to developing energy efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles and fuels to meet the needs of all Americans. The efforts of today’s partnership will help our nation to wean itself from its addiction to oil by providing consumers with domestically grown and produced fuel choices like E85.”

Kroger is making the station improvements needed to offer E85 in Ohio and plans to offer E85 at more Kroger locations as consumer demand grows. Specific locations throughout central Ohio, Dayton, Cincinnati and Toledo will be announced as they come on line.

“Kroger is proud to offer its customers and the many Ohio motorists greater access to E85 ethanol fuel in this state,” said Bruce Macaulay, president The Kroger Co., Great Lakes Division. “We appreciate the support of Gov. Taft and GM in promoting availability and consumer awareness of this viable alternative fuel.”

General Motors will continue to spend significant advertising and promotion dollars to help generate awareness of E85 flexible fuel vehicles—and where consumers can purchase E85 ethanol—with consumer marketing initiatives and dealer outreach. The effort is similar to announcements GM has already made with other state government, oil industry, ethanol producers, and retail partners in California, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota and Texas. Since May 2005, GM has announced partnerships with states and fuel providers around the country to locate, to date, up to 160 new E85 ethanol fueling locations by the end of 2006.

“GM already has more than two million vehicles on the road today that are capable of using E85 ethanol fuel,” said Elizabeth Lowery, GM vice president of environment and energy. “We appreciate that Kroger is joining our efforts to make this great fuel alternative available to more people in Ohio. “We also appreciate the support of Gov. Taft and the State of Ohio as we continue to promote the use of E85 ethanol and its many benefits for the environment, the economy and consumers.”

Last year, GM presented Gov. Taft with a one-year loan of an E85-capable Chevy Tahoe to help promote E85 in the state as part of an ongoing campaign by GM and the Governors’ Ethanol Coalition (GEC), a bipartisan group of governors devoted to the promotion and increased use of ethanol. This collaborative effort, which was launched in early 2005, is designed to increase awareness of ethanol and flexible fuel vehicles, and to promote the increased use of E85 as a renewable, alternative transportation fuel that is able to meet the demands of today’s drivers. GM is continuing the program through 2006 and today presented the Ohio Corn Growers Association with a new E85 flexible fuel vehicle to continue its promotion of ethanol and E85-capable vehicles.

Accepting the E85-capable Chevrolet Tahoe on behalf of the Ohio Corn Growers Association, Dwayne Siekman said, “We appreciate GM’s support of cleaner-burning alternative fuels like ethanol and its promotion of E85, which helps reduce tailpipe and greenhouse gas emissions, while supporting the economy and increasing our nation’s energy independence.”

E85 flexible fuel vehicles can run on any combination of gasoline and/or E85 ethanol, a fuel blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. E85 ethanol can contribute to energy independence because it diversifies the source of transportation fuels beyond petroleum, and it provides positive environmental benefits in the form of reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Today, ethanol is primarily made from corn.

Corn is one of the top crops of Ohio’s $73 billion a year agriculture industry and five ethanol plants are currently being planned for the state, with three breaking ground now. Once completed, the five plants are expected to collectively produce up to 270 million gallons of ethanol each year, requiring 100 million bushels of corn each year.

GM currently employs over 19,000 Ohio residents and operates ten plants in the state. There are over 100,000 GM flexible-fuel vehicles in Ohio, with two million on the road across the country.

GM is a leader in flexible-fuel vehicle production and sales. For the 2006 model year, GM offers nine E85 flexible fuel vehicles, including the Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Yukon XL, Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, Chevrolet Avalanche, Chevrolet Impala, and the Chevrolet Monte Carlo. GM also plans to add more than 400,000 E85-capable vehicles to the fleet in 2006. At the same time, worldwide production of ethanol is increasing every year, and is expected to triple by 2020.

[Camino LS6]

Bravo, let's keep this going.

[daves87rs]

YES!

Maybe I can consider a silverado...

[Mr.Krinkle]

all right then. wasnt walmart at one point considering having the ethanol, too?

[BuddyP]

This it good to hear, however I hope GM doens't loose their focus on continuing hydrogen research.

[Robert Hall]

Interesting...I heard last month from my brother that he heard that one of the new ethanol plants is likely to be built near where he lives (Gnadenhutten, Ohio).

[zhawk]

Considering this is just going to allow more people to use FlexFuel vehicles, which are already in production, I don't this this will distract any attention or research from Hydrogen or anything else being worked on.

I'm hoping that with the refineries being built here in Washington and Oregon, we'll start to see some of the flexfuel pumps out here as well. Of the 4 out here, 2 are military vehicles only, one is on Hanford and the other looks to be on an airport in Richland.

Edited July 7, 2006 by zhawk

[aaaantoine]

While I wouldn't have a problem getting my hands on a flex-fuel vehicle, I wouldn't be able to take full-advantage of it until they get more E85 pumps out here in New York.

[-Camaro-]

Alright... How much does it cost? And how good of mileage does it have? Does it get the same power with it?

[aaaantoine]

Short answers to your questions:

1. Flex-fuel vehicles don't cost much - if any - more than standard engines. They can run on either gasoline or E85.

2. E85 fuel economy is something like a few MPG lower than standard gasoline. But E85 fuel is cheaper and makes up for the lower efficiency.

3. I believe the power is identical.

Edited July 7, 2006 by aaaantoine

[-Camaro-]

Short answers to your questions:

1. Flex-fuel vehicles don't cost much - if any - more than standard engines.  They can run on either gasoline or E85.

2. E85 fuel economy is something like a few MPG lower than standard gasoline.  But E85 fuel is cheaper and makes up for the lower efficiency.

3. I believe the power is identical.

163836[/snapback]

Thanks, but when I asked how much it costs, I meant how much does it cost per gallon?

Edited July 7, 2006 by -Camaro-

[BuddyP]

I think in general E85 is around $0.50-$0.60 cheaper per gallon than regular 87 gas. You'll loose about 25% fuel efficiency with it buy like mentioned above, the cheaper cost per gallon will roughly even it out. Plus knowing that your doing better for the enviroment and not buying oil. I think it E85 gives you roughly 5% more power. It is a better fuel for your engine to burn.

[76ChevyTrucker]

BuddyP is right, you lose some mileage, but you gain some power. Another thing that I saw once on a History Channel thing about fuels was that in places like Brazil, straight ethanol was 1.20 per liter, meanwhile straight gasoline was about 2.10 a liter. So maybe that'll give you a better idea as to what you're looking at. I've been seriously thinking about going Flex-Fuel for my next vehicle, if they'd just get some E85 pumps here in Alabama.

[Shantanu]

This is good news for Ohio.

In the future I'd like to see engines built from the ground up to run on E85. I expect the fuel economy and performance will be even better then.