This morning I wrote a piece about how GM is lamenting the lack of E85 fueling stations in the United States. But the other interesting tidbit of information in there was a simple statement by GM’s Tony Posawat that the generator in the upcoming Chevy Volt extended range electric vehicle would not support E85 (85% ethanol/15% gasoline) initially.
This came as a shock to me, especially considering that of all the car makers, GM has invested the most time and resources to make a huge portion of their vehicles flex-fuel E85 capable. It was also quite a strange statement because as recently as last October GM was proudly touting the fact that their Flint, MI, assembly plant would be building the Volt’s “flex-fuel 1.4 liter” engine.
I couldn’t accept the announcement at face value, so I decided to contact not one, not two, but three GM representatives to hear for myself that GM would not support E85 in the Volt initially.
As it turns out, it’s true. And I’m bummed.