I recently hired an Alamo rental car to drive from South Bend to Indianapolis.  My only criteria was that it should be a “compact” vehicle with a good price relative to other car rental companies for one-way drop-off.  With key in hand, I went to the airport rental car lot and beeped my way to find myself looking at some sort of bright orange SUV-ish vehicle? “That’s no compact,” I bleeped to myself.  I have been living in Europe for 8 years, so have become unfamiliar with the car brand and makes landscape in the U.S. I headed to the back of the car which said “HHR” and also mention of the word “ethanol.”  I thought, “OK. Guess it is some kind of hybrid so it is an apropos compact car substitute?”

My inquiring mind wanted to know more about this HHR!  My findings:  Unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show in mid-February 2009, the 2009 Chevrolet HHR E85 is the first 4-cylinder Flex-Fuel Engine from GM in North America. It is a FlexFuel vehicle that runs on either gasoline or E85 ethanol.  “GM has pledged that half of the vehicles it produces by 2012 will be flex-fuel capable. The company currently has 11 flex-fuel models for 2008, and more than 15 planned for 2009.”

In January, GM announced at the Detroit Auto Show its partnership with and investment in the start-up company, an innovative developer of next generation ethanol, called Coskata (Illinois). Coskata produces produces ethanol from cellulosic biomass or waste at a low cost.  

Coskata is working with ICM (Kansas) to design and build its first sygnas-fermentation ethanol plant in late 2010.

What does “well-to-wheel” analysis by the Argonne National Laboratory say about E85? “An HHR running on E85 - a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline - would emit up to 23% fewer carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions than if running on gasoline.”

What I want to know now is how I would switch to E85 once I rented the HHR or do I need to switch? I guess I was emitting 23% more CO2 than I should have? (Anyone reading who knows, please do post a comment!)

Where would one go to refuel on E85?  As shown at http://e85vehicles.com/e85-stations.htm, there are nearly 1900 gas stations where you can fuel up with E85 across the U.S. That number is expected to double in a little over a year.

According to the www.hybridcars.com Sept 2008 article, Guide to Hybrid Car Rentals:

“A few years ago, it was nearly impossible to rent a hybrid car. Now, the ability to complete a hybrid car rental is only limited by your willingness to plan ahead… Unfortunately, the rental car companies are fighting for the same limited hybrid inventory that has put retail consumers on long waiting lists.”  The article mentions that Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Hertz, and Avis-Budget as the major rental car companies that all have hybrids in their fleets. Based on my recent experience, add Alamo to the list!  And, I just checked out the National Car Rental website which has a “Go Green” link which takes you to their “Comprehensive Environmental Platform.” Good move by National, considering their green color branding! 

Since knowledge is power, I will take this to heart next time I rent a “compact” car, ahem, SUV hybrid.  Recreational driving plus ethanol – a natural high! 

Great article by Paul Ingrassia, the former Detroit bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal.

In an article from November 10, 2008, Mr. Ingrassia wrote regarding a potential bailout of General Motors: “In return for any direct government aid, the board and the management should go. Shareholders should lose their paltry remaining equity. And a government-appointed receiver — someone hard-nosed and nonpolitical — should have broad power to revamp G.M. with a viable business plan and return it to a private operation as soon as possible. That will mean tearing up existing contracts with unions, dealers and suppliers, closing some operations and selling others and downsizing the company…”

In a recent commentary, Thomas Friedman tacked on a great addendum to Mr. Ingrassia’s plan: “I would add other conditions: Any car company that gets taxpayer money must demonstrate a plan for transforming every vehicle in its fleet to a hybrid-electric engine with flex-fuel capability, so its entire fleet can also run on next generation cellulosic ethanol.”

It is an interesting perspective - GM has been hamstrung for years with union obligations and has been beaten to the punch (at least in the Public Relations game) by Honda and, more particularly, Toyota in developing fuel efficient or hybrid vehicles.  Members of Congress, and their constituents are simultaneously feeling the effects of “bailout fatigue.”  While the Big 3 had worked in recent years to wriggle out of some of the costly union obligations (retiree benefits being first and foremost), the high price of gas and the recent economic downturn is going to cause major change much sooner and much more rapidly than the Big 3 would have otherwise have liked.  Whether rapid change comes through the bankruptcy courts or via an entirely new leadership team, the time is right.  The question is: in the current political environment, is a government funded rescue possible?  The unions stand to lose big if GM, Chrysler or Ford fails.  Will President-Elect Obama allow that to happen given that unions played a key role in his election?  Congress is preparing to debate a $25 billion dollar bailout before the inauguration.

Here’s hoping that whatever the outcome, the Big 3 come out as more nimble, green-focused companies that can meet the new demands for fuel efficient and/or hybrid autos.  All three companies have spent time and money investing in alternative energy technologies, as can be seen in a quick review of the Patent Office website.  Can they turn over fast enough to avoid extinction?  We’ll know soon enough….