GM Announces Two New E-85 Vehicles  E-mail
Written by Hank Green   
Sunday, 13 January 2008

At a press conference featuring GM's chairman, Rick Wagoner, as well as the head of GM Europe and Vinod Khosla, GM released two new E-85 Ethanol vehicles, a Saab, and of all things, a Hummer.

It's a bit dubious that GM makes this ultra-environmental announcement at a Hummer / Saab press conference, generally not GMs greenest brands. But this is along with the very exciting biofuel announcement (see below).

The new Hummer H-X is being billed as a young person's Hummer. A lighter, more efficient, two-door Hummer, and, of course, E-85 capable. Don't worry, though, it's still really inefficient and audacious...just slightly less so than the original.

The Saab 9-4X is is similarly uninteresting, aside from how gorgeous it is. The car does use a lot of aluminum, to keep weight down, so it should be at least a little bit more efficient. But the story remains GM's newfound focus on biofuel development. While they've been more than happy to build E-85 capable vehicles in the past, now they're actually getting involved in promoting the production and distribution of ethanol from non-food crops.

**Update: I just want everyone to know that Vinod Khosla just commented on this article, so check out the comments to see what he has to say.

Note: GM paid for my hotel and travel to the Detroit Auto Show.

Comments (3)add
Hummer will have lwoer emissiosn than a
written by Vinod Khosla , January 13, 2008
The newly announced Hummer will have half the carbon emissions per mile driven when running on Coskata ethanol compared to a Prius on gasoline!!!
...
written by Steve , January 13, 2008
Oh great, biofuel hummer. In addition to contributing to higher food prices, enough to starve poor people in other countries biofuel hummers can help accelerate American use of petroleum based fertilizers, the run off of which is responsible for the "dead zone" in the gulf of Mexico. Then there is depleting fresh water aquifers in the midwest.

All some some moron with a tiny penis can feel more like a man.
...
written by stands2reason , January 13, 2008
Uh, Steve, the Coskata ethanol is cellulosic and doesn't come from corn--at least not the sugar or starch parts. So what's all this doomsday talk about using it. Talk about non sequitur...
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Hank Green
About the author:

Hank Green is the founder and chief geek at EcoGeek.org. Aside from being obsessed with saving the planet with technology, he loves to write and make videos. If you want to find out more about him, visit hankgreen.com

 
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