General Motors wants to build an infrastructure in Tennessee that would support alternative fuel vehicles.
So far this year, the automaker has announced partnerships in several other states to make ethanol-based E-85 fuel more readily available. The company is partnering with existing fuel store chains and fuel companies to install new E-85 pumps throughout Michigan, Texas and the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and has supplied California’s Transportation Department with flexible fuel vehicles for an E-85 demonstration project.
John Gaydash oversees brand management for GM’s alternative fuel vehicles. He says the company is in initial talks with Tennessee officials to explore ways of making E-85 more readily available here, as well.
“The key to E85 is it is the biggest saver of petroleum in the short term, given the fact that the vehicle only runs on 15% of any gallon of fuel is actually gasoline, the other 85% being ethanol. You know, if we’re successful in doing what we’re trying to do, we could substantially reduce our dependency on foreign oil and petroleum.”
According to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, E-85 fuel is currently only available at two Tennessee locations: a private refueling station at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and an East Nashville Citgo.
Gaydash says it’s important to realize that no single alternative fuel technology can replace the gas-powered engine. He says GM is pursuing several approaches to lowering emissions and reducing gas consumption. The company currently produces vehicles that run on compressed natural gas, will expand its hybrid lineup this summer, and is experimenting with hydrogen fuel cell technology.
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