As our brothers at Autoblog like to say, it's "officially official." GM has confirmed their plans to offer all Hummers with biofuel-capable engine options. According to Automotive News, a Hummer official has said that the 2009 H2 and H2 SUT will be equipped with flex-fuel engines capable on running on gasoline or ethanol, making them the first such Hummers available. The 2010 Hummer H3 will be offered with a flex-fuel version of GM's direct injection 3.6L V-6 and we've heard plenty of rumblings regarding diesel Hummers too. Currently, the Hummer H3 is offered with a five-cylinder gasoline engine and a 5.3 liter small-block V8, both of which struggle to get fuel mileage in the mid-to-high teens. The H2 is available only with a larger 6.2 liter V8, which, as you can probably surmise, offers dismal fuel economy, and it would use even more fuel if it were running on ethanol. Emissions would probably be improved, but we're still talking about lots of fuel being burned here. We'll be on the lookout for more information on the biofuel capabilities of the Hummer brand, but we remain firmly in the bandaid-on-a-broken-arm camp on this particular announcement.

[Source: Automotive News (sub. req'd)]

The look and feel of the Hummer HX concept has been on our computer screens for a while now, but today was the first time we got to look at the baby Hummer in the metal for the first time. And, surprise, surprise, GM is saying with a straight face that the Hummer brand and the environment can get along. Of all the Hummer vehicles, the HX certainly comes closest, being smaller and lighter than ever before and being the first Hummer to be E85-ready (see this previous post). Just on general principle, I know I'll never buy a Hummer, but maybe - maybe - the HX is one that I'd ride in. Who wants to go camping?

Find out more about GM's event today and listen to audio of the presentation here.