Chrysler to build 500,000 flex fuel vehicles for 2008 model year
Chrysler is expanding the availability of flex-fuel vehicles during the 2008 model year and expects to build about 500,000 of them in total this year. Among the vehicles that are capable of running on E85 are the 3.3L-equipped minivans, 4.7L V-8 trucks and SUVs and the 2.7L V-6 Avenger and Sebring. As with other manufacturers, Chrysler is equipping their E85 vehicles with yellow fuel filler caps. With 1,100 E85 filling stations in operation now, the biofuel is becoming more available but the price difference from gasoline is typically does not make up for the 15-20 percent reduction in fuel economy. Note, though, that we recently had a flex-fuel Dodge Avenger in the AutoblogGreen Garage that actually performed better on E85 than gasoline.
[Source: Dodge]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mike 8:10PM (10/13/2007)
I guess this is a good first step, but the future is ELECTRIC.
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Michel S. 11:13PM (10/13/2007)
The mileage disadvantage disappeared once you use E85 to fuel a turbocharged engine, if I remember correctly?
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MikeW 1:18PM (10/14/2007)
You might gain some back 5-10%, but not enough to cover the almost 30% reduction in volumetric energy density.
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Stéphane Dumas 7:29AM (10/14/2007)
Michel S got a point, the mileage disadvantage disseapear when we use E85 with a turbocharged engine. There a 2 year old article from Popular Science about a Saab turbocharged who use E85 http://www.popsci.com/popsci/automotivetech/564c1196aeb84010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html
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earl 9:36AM (10/14/2007)
Notice how all these E85 vehicles are some of the worst efficiency vehicles in the fleet? That's because any E85 vehicle produced does not count against the fleets CAFE, so in order to meet CAFE regulations all the automakers have found a loophole that lets them produce all the gas hogs they want, just put a little yellow gas cap on it.
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Bill 3:43PM (10/14/2007)
Could you just give us a 2.5L turbodiesel for the minivan instead?
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