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General Motors announced a new partnership with Mascoma Corp. to develop cellulosic ethanol from non-grain sources. As an investor, GM will aid in the development of renewable fuel for the more than 7 million flex-fuel vehicles on U.S. roads, including 3 million GM cars and trucks. In January, GM announced a partnership with Coskata Inc., a start-up with promising thermo-chemical technology for creating ethanol from practically any renewable source, including garbage, old tires, and plant waste. ( Photo shows the 2009 Buick Lucerne, the first flex-fuel capable Buick passenger car.) Mascoma uses a single-step biochemical conversion that convert biomass cellulose into ethanol. Their process lowers costs by limiting additives and enzymes used in other biochemical processes. Based in Boston, privately held Mascoma is using proprietary microorganisms developed at the company's laboratories in the process. In addition to funds from GM, Mascoma has received a $26 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. GM looks to be smartly positioning itself as an automaker and fuel creator, while further the corporation’s environmental initiatives. In addition, through its investments, GM...
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A sign of its commitment in China, Buick chose the 2008 Beijing Auto Show to unveil its Invicta concept car. This mid-sized sedan reveals the design direction for Buick’s next-generation vehicles for the United States and China, and the Invicta is expected to replace the LaCrosse later this year. The Invicta styling evolved from the well-received 2004 Velite convertible and 2007 Riviera coupe concepts, and it was designed collaboratively by GM centers in Warren, Michigan, and Shanghai, China. The name harks back to 1959, when it was first introduced in North America on a production vehicle. Invicta is Latin for “invincible.” The sleek exterior has a coupe-like profile in vogue with premium models, like the Mercedes-Benz CLS, accented with crisp lines and chrome highlights. The sheetmetal wraps tautly around the wheel arches stuffed with 20-inch wheels giving it a muscular, modern appearance. This is heightened by short overhangs and a sense of motion evoked by the wrap-around headlamps and aggressively raked windshield. The reborn Buick-signature portholes are placed on the hood, rather than on the fenders. Beneath the relatively flat hood is a turbocharged 250-horsepower four-cylinder...
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The 2009 Buick Lucerne sedan joins the growing list of General Motors' flex-fuel vehicles that can run on either ordinary gasoline or E85, or any combination of the two. The Lucerne, the first flex-fuel capable Buick passenger car, will be among more than 15 GM models with flex-fuel capability in 2009, up from 11 offerings this year. "We continue to believe that ethanol used in high blends like E85 offers the best near-term solution to offset increased oil demand," said GM Vice President of Environment, Energy and Safety Policy Beth Lowery at the Department of Energy's Biomass Conference. "There are more than 7 million vehicles today that can use E85. The key is to increase the number of stations that offer the fuel." E85 ethanol (a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline), is a cleaner-burning alternative fuel that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 23 percent compared with gasoline. However, vehicles are less-fuel efficient when running on E85 than gasoline. Learn about alternative fuels . Research Buick in the buyer’s guide, complete with pricing, specifications, and photo galleries.
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Motorists continue to clamor for GPS-based navigation services, as sales of in-car and portable devices soar. GM’s OnStar telematics division has been competing in this space with a “ turn-by-turn ” service, allowing drivers to request directions from a human advisor that are then downloaded to the vehicle and read aloud automatically along the route. OnStar bills it as “the simplest navigation system.” Well, now OnStar is moving to compete more directly with traditional touch-screen systems with two new services. The first is OnStar Destination Download, which enables OnStar subscribers with screen-based infotainment systems to input their destination while on the go at the press of a button. The second service, OnStar eNav, allows subscribers with a “turn-by-turn” capable vehicle to find and save destinations on MapQuest.com and have those destinations sent to their vehicle. Subscribers simply press their vehicle's OnStar phone button to access voice-guided commands through which they can select their route. OnStar eNav will be available retroactively on 2.7 million current “turn-by-turn” capable GM vehicles. Later this year eNav will also combine with OnStar Destination Download...
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