GM going beyond gasoline

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - General Motors earned the enmity of environmental activists by bringing the Hummer behemoth to American driveways. Now it's trying to burnish its "green" credentials.

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GM officials showed off their 2009 products to the media at Texas Motor Speedway on Tuesday, including new full-size hybrid Chevy and GMC pickups and the hybrid Cadillac Escalade.

The "ride and drive" event was the first Texas appearance for the Chevy Volt electric car and two of GM's hydrogen-powered Chevy Equinox small sport utility vehicles.

By working on a variety of technologies including hybrids and ethanol-, electricity- and hydrogen-powered vehicles, GM says it is trying to position itself as a leader in meeting new fuel-economy and environmental mandates.

"We've been around 100 years, and we're going to be around for the next 100," said Mark Vann, GM's expert on vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells. "But we're not going to get there on petroleum alone."

With 100 hydrogen-powered small SUVs now in operation around the country, Vann said the company has enough knowledge to produce such a vehicle for the consumer market. But the costs are still too high and the availability of compressed hydrogen fuel too limited.

"We really think this is one of the paths of the future," Vann said. "The question is, when does the (hydrogen) infrastructure become available?"

Rebecca Lindland, automotive industry analyst for Global Insights, said no automaker is working on a greater variety of fuel-saving technologies than GM.

But because of public and political perceptions, GM also has the most at stake, especially with the highly visible Volt.

"The pressure on them is enormous," Lindland said. "They won't have a second chance."

GM officials hope to bring the Volt, capable of running 40 miles on the battery alone, to market by late 2010.

A nonoperational version of the Volt, nearly identical to the production model, was available for close-up inspection. The four-door car will be about the same size and have the same interior space as other compact sedans.

"They're doing everything they can to get to the 2010 timetable," said Cristi Landy, Volt product manager.

The Volt will have a small gasoline engine to drive an electrical generator to provide backup power. The battery is rechargeable in eight hours on a typical 120-volt household electrical system.

Test vehicles using the Volt system and prototype batteries are performing "remarkably well" at GM's Michigan facilities, Landy said, although she said the long-term reliability of the lithium ion batteries has yet to be proven.

The hydrogen-powered Equinox is further along in development.

GM has families and businesses use the vehicles, primarily in Southern California and the East Coast, where hydrogen fuel is available, for two or three months at time. So far, 3,000 drivers have put 350,000 miles on the vehicles.

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Powered by a fuel cell that converts hydrogen gas into electricity, the vehicle operates with little audible sound inside or out and accelerates briskly from a full stop. It can go from zero to 60 mph in nine seconds and has a top speed of 100 mph.

"It's not a science experiment. It's a real car," Vann said.

And while exotic new technologies get lots of attention, GM continues to push forward on bringing more fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles to market.

"General Motors has five hybrids today. We'll have 20 by 2012," said Gary White, vice president of GM's full-size truck division.

Early in 2009, Chevrolet and GMC dealers will begin receiving their first Silverado and Sierra half-ton crew cab pickups powered by GM's two-mode hybrid gasoline/electric power system.

Two-wheel-drive models of the pickups, according to EPA estimates, will achieve 21 miles per gallon in city driving, about a 50 percent improvement over GM's standard-issue gasoline-engine trucks, and 22 mpg on the highway.

The pickups use the hybrid power train developed by GM and introduced last year in the Arlington-built full-size Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon sport utility vehicles. GM recently introduced a hybrid version of the Cadillac Escalade luxury SUV, also built in Arlington.

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© 2008, Fort Worth Star-Telegram.