GM has made a major commitment to producing E85 flexible fuel vehicles and promoting the use of E85 ethanol, an alternative fuel made of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Producing E85 flexible fuel vehicle is one part of GM’s strategy to reduce vehicle emissions and dependence on petroleum, along with advanced technologies like hybrid powertrains and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

WHAT IS ETHANOL? Ethanol is a renewable fuel, a by-product of renewable resources such as grain or corn. Grain-based ethanol and specifically cellulose ethanol can substantially reduce transportation related greenhouse gas emissions.

Today, GM is a leader in producing E85 FlexFuel vehicle with more than two million of them on the road in North America. The benefits of driving an E85 FlexFuel vehicle is the reduction of vehicle emissions since ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline, emitting fewer smog-forming substances and greenhouse gases.

For 2009 model year, GM is offering twelve E85 vehicle models:

• Buick Lucerne
• Cadillac Escalade
• Cadillac Escalade ESV
• Cadillac Escalade EXT
• Chevrolet Avalanche
• Chevrolet Express
• Chevrolet Impala
• Chevrolet HHR
• Chevrolet HHR Panel
• Chevrolet Silverado
• Chevrolet Suburban
• Chevrolet Tahoe
• GMC Savana
• GMC Sierra
• GMC Yukon
• GMC Yukon XL
• HUMMER H2
• HUMMER H2 SUT

E85 Fuel and Vehicles - Building on Canada's Renewable Fuels Policy

The relative unavailability of advanced bio-fuels, such as E85, is a significant barrier to the achievement of accelerated GHG reductions from the automotive sector. There are currently only 3 retail E85 fuelling stations in Canada: one each in Chatham, Guelph, and Ottawa. As indicated in the chart below, the life cycle GHG emissions of E85 ethanol fuelled FlexFuel vehicles are significantly lower than gasoline powered vehicles (45% to 68% lower for E85 vs. gasoline, per NRCan GHGenius CO2 lifecycle vehicle-fuel emissions analysis). With access to E85 fuel in Canada, vehicles such as the Oshawa-made FlexFuel Chevrolet Impala can achieve significantly less net GHG emissions than the smallest hybrid vehicles available today. The key enabler for Canada to realize the environmental benefits of this affordable vehicle technology is the retail availability of E85 fuel in Canada to accompany E85 FlexFuel vehicles being offered for sale in Ontario today.