DETROIT -- Automakers could develop a full line of vehicles that use ethanol-based E85, if the infrastructure for the fuel existed.
That would be the best solution for consumers and the least expensive, and E85 would dramatically reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the U.S. dependency on oil, said Bob Lutz, General Motors' vice chairman of global product development.
" There's no reason the automotive industry can't go to 100 percent E85 vehicles, and the world we love doesn't have to change," Lutz said today during a media roundtable here at the auto show. " It requires the least change in consumer behavior" -- meaning consumers could still drive full-sized trucks, SUVs and other vehicles.
Lutz said an E85 fleet also would cost consumers less than paying for a hybrid or developing more fuel-efficient engine technology.
On Monday, Jan. 14, GM said it would invest in a cellulosic ethanol startup, Coskata Inc., of Warrenville, Ill. The company aims to make ethanol using nonfood stocks -- such as wood chips and other waste products -- for less than $1 a gallon.
GM CEO Rick Wagoner has said using ethanol in all so-called flex-fuel vehicles produced or planned by GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC would cut America's gasoline use by 22 billion gallons a year. That is equal to about 15.5 percent of U.S. annual gasoline consumption.
Lutz said GM never intended to be in the fuel business. But now that industry affects GM's product development, " we have a strategic stake in it."
Toward that end, Lutz said GM has hired more scientists and engineers to expand its scientific base and lead research in electric technology.
Said Lutz: " We want to be at the cutting edge of battery technology."
On a related topic, Lutz said new fuel efficiency requirements imposed by Congress will add, on average, $6,000 to the price of each GM vehicle sold in the United States.
In December, Congress passed an energy bill requiring the auto industry to increase fuel economy to an industrywide 35 mpg by 2020, a 40 percent increase over current levels.
" We've done the research, and it's going to cost us $4,000 on some vehicles and $10,000 on others, with an average of about $6,000," Lutz said. " That cost will have to be passed on to consumers."
