Here's the thing: American automakers used to fully support E85-capable (aka flex-fuel) vehicles. With a few cheap additions to a standard engine ($100, or thereabouts), a car could get a special badge, drink corn (where available) and get the automaker a bit of goodwill, especially from politicians. The Auto Alliance often went out of its way to proclaim all of the flex-fuel vehicles its members were selling (see this PDF).

Today, things are different. There is talk of introducing a bill in Congress that would force half of the new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be flex-fuel capable, starting in 2012 (jumping to 80 percent in 2015). Interestingly, it's not just gas ICE vehicles that would be affected. Diesel engines would need to be able to handle biodiesel, probably at higher concentrates than B5. Auto Alliance president Dave McCurdy wrote a letter to members of Congress last week to say that a mandate like this is a bad idea. Instead of the flex-fuel flood of vehicles of years past, McCurdy said that infrastructure should pace vehicle availability. "Mandates to produce vehicles for which there is inadequate fuels or fueling infrastructure should be opposed," he wrote.

McCurdy's other main point was that diverting limited automaker resources to making so many vehicles flex-fuel capable will divert resources from other advanced vehicle technologies. It's not easy to make cars, is it?

[Source: Green Car Advisor]

In spite of being part of the Volkswagen Group, Bentley has opted to not go the diesel route in its efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Instead, the Continental Supersports becomes the most powerful Bentley ever through the use of E85 as a fuel. Bentley has added flex fuel capability to the twin turbocharged 6.0L W12 to increase the output from the 600 hp of the current Continental GT Speed to 621 hp. Torque output is increased from 553 lb-ft to 590 lb-ft.

Also contributing to the improved acceleration 0-60 acceleration of 3.7 seconds is a 242 lb reduction in weight. In fact, the Supersports project began primarily as an investigation into reducing the mass of the nearly 5,200 lb Continental coupe. If this car is actually run on E85, the net well-to-wheel emissions of CO₂ will certainly be reduced compared to running it on gasoline, but this car is by no means green. If Bentley is really serious about reducing fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions, the company would be pursuing more aggressive changes than simply going flex-fuel. Within the group, there is work happening on electrification and hybridization, technologies that could be applied to a car like the Continental.

The Continental Supersports goes on sale this fall with most countries getting flex-fuel capability at launch. American examples get the E85 capability in 2010.


[Source: Bentley]

Renault has now added two more flex-fuel models to its lineup with E85-capable variations of the Kangoo and Modus models. These are part of Renault's eco² lineup of more environmentally friendly models. Renault already offers flex-fuel versions of the Clio and Megane. The Modus gets E85 capability on its 1.2L four cylinder while the Kangoo has it added to the 1.6L engine. The flex fuel models cost an extra €200 in France. In France, tax breaks mean that E85 costs €0.513 per liter less ($2.58 /gallon) than gasoline.



[Source: Renault]

Toyota has announced updated pricing information for the 2009 Tundra full-size truck, along with a few new options that weren't available before. Chief among these new features is flex-fuel capability on the largest, most powerful 5.7L engine option. Toyota has been planning on adding this capability since the new Tundra was introduced, which makes sense considering that all of its major competitors offer the ability to run on ethanol mixtures higher than 10 percent. The Japanese automaker will specifically be focusing in on the Midwestern states where E85 is more common, and will in fact be made standard on four-wheel drive models in certain areas. There will be no price increase on models equipped with the ethanol capability, which is good since the 2009 Tundra can top out at well over $40K. Prices have risen only modestly across the line - just an average of four percent, or $109 per truck for the new year.

[Source: Carscoop]

Flex-fuel automobiles are nothing new. In fact, there are over 7-million flexible-fuel vehicles already on the roads in America, and it's not at all uncommon to see gas stations that offer E85. All vehicles sold in the United States must be able to accept a minimum of 10 percent ethanol, but some modifications are required to run at higher percentages, including the use of different rubber tubes and seals along with some reprogramming of the engine's computer. At this point, there are no motorcycles or scooters that are certified to run on fuel with ethanol concentrations as high as 85 percent, but Yamaha has recently filed a patent for just such a machine. Since there isn't any production machine as of yet, details on the Yamaha system remain sketchy, with Motorcycle News in the UK suggesting that there is a secondary fuel tank on-board to hold the ethanol. This shouldn't really be necessary if the bike is equipped with sensors to detect the alcohol content of the fuel. On the other hand, if Yamaha were planning to use the ethanol as an injection to control engine knock and emissions, a second tank would be necessary. We look forward to seeing what the Tuning Fork company has in store for its flex-fuel two-wheelers.

[Source: Motorcycle News]

Ethanol has proven itself a viable fuel for tuners that want to get the most power from their automobiles. The alcohol has a higher octane rating that gasoline, meaning that an engine tuned to run on ethanol can make higher horsepower without the risk of detonation. This fact has prompted some companies to use ethanol for their performance cars, allowing them to offer extreme performance along with being able to market the vehicle as a greener option. The latest example of this strategy comes from Climax, makers of a new mid-engine British sportscar.

The Climax uses a lightweight aluminum structure underneath a body pounded either from aluminum or molded from carbon fiber. Power comes from a flex-fuel capable and Prodrive-tuned version of Subaru's latest turbocharged boxer four cylinder engine, tuned to run on ethanol, which powers the rear wheels. Performance figures are impressive, with the run to 60 taking less than four seconds. Top speed is estimated at around 170 miles per hour. Combined fuel economy is rated at 27.4 miles per gallon. A full provisional spec-sheet is available (.pdf link). It's definitely a good-looking car, though its green credentials may be debatable.


[Source: Climax Cars via Gizmag]

We've known for some time now that Ford's redesigned 2010 Fusion and Milan sedans would be getting a new hybrid version for the first time. What we didn't know before was that there will also be a new flex-fuel variant. An order guide has appeared on a Ford discussion board. The flex-fuel engine is based on the updated 3.0L Duratec V6 that debuted earlier this year on the 2009 Escape and Mariner. It will be optional on the S, SE and SEL trim levels and matched up with the same new 6 speed automatic transmission used in the crossovers. The base engine on all three of those trim levels will be the new 2.5L four cylinder also shared with the Escape. On the SE and S trim levels the four will even be available with a new 6 speed manual transmission in addition to the automatic.

The Fusion/Milan hybrid will use an Atkinson cycle version of the 2.5L just like the Escape, but the hybrid hardware is expected to be an upgraded second-generation version. Electrical energy storage will be the usual nickel metal hydride battery pack. We should be learning more about the new Fusion powertrains next week.

[Source: Blue Oval Forums]

I wonder just how much money and time has been spent by national organizations promoting flexfuel vehicles - even though we all know that E85 fuel is pretty hard to find. Whatever the calculation, we need to add in the cost of a new F150 crew cab flexible-fuel vehicle (around $36,000) and a year's worth of E85 (around $6,000). This was a bonus prize awarded to the Dirk Devries family in Minnesota, which recently won ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The local Dave Syverson Ford is providing the vehicle and the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC), along with local POET biorefineries, is providing the biofuel. According to the local paper, the Devries family hasn't had it easy recently and a friend of the family submitted their story to the TV show for consideration. Along with a new home, a new truck might make things better for them. We'll see how they feel when they have to pay to fill it up next year.

[Source: Ethanol Promotion and Information Council]

A bipartisan group of senators has drafted a new energy bill that includes a mandate that all vehicles sold in the United States would have to be flex-fuel capable by 2020. During the GM BioFuels summit last Friday in Detroit, one of the subjects that came up was the use of flex-fuel vs. dedicated ethanol vehicles. When Brazil first started moving to ethanol in the 1970s, manufacturers built cars that only ran on ethanol. Due some volatility in fuel prices these proved to be unpopular. It was only when everyone started to make flex-fuel vehicles so that drivers could select the fuel that was most affordable that such cars and use ethanol really took off. Now more than 90 percent of new cars in Brazil are FFVs.

However, some in the industry are opposed to the plan. Barbara Nocera of Mazda is concerned that government shouldn't mandate which technologies win out. The validity of this argument is dependent on how how the law is written. If it only mandates flex fuel capability without specifying particular fuels, this really shouldn't be a problem. Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers president Dave McCurdy has said some engines are not easily adaptable to flex fuel capability. Again this seems a dubious argument at least for gasoline engines. There shouldn't be any modern electronically controlled engines that couldn't be flex-fuel capable.

GM spokesman Alan Adler told ABG that "In general, GM opposes mandates, including this one." The real problem is not building the FFVs, but rather a lack of filling stations. Brazil has mandated that filling stations must install ethanol pumps, but less than one percent of U.S. stations offer E85. Adler said that most new GM programs "are going to offer flex-fuel capability but some, such as diesel programs, will not." However, if the fuel isn't available to buy it won't make any difference.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

So far, Suzuki has steered clear of alternative fuel vehicles in the American market. They haven't offered any diesels, flex-fuel or hybrid vehicles yet. That may soon change as the company will reportedly launch some vehicles that can run on not just E85, but also E100 as soon as 2010. The powertrains will be targeted at both the U.S. and Brazilian markets were E100 is commonly available. By March of 2009, Suzuki plans to launch a product in Brazil that can handle E25. Suzuki could also use its General Motors connections to bring a hybrid vehicle to market. In this case, it will more likely be the mild hybrid BAS system rather than the much more expensive Two-Mode hybrid. We might even get some of the diesels that Suzuki offers in other parts of the world.

[Source: Green Car Congress]