Auto & Car Blog

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Ethanol, AutoblogGreen Exclusive

At the Platts Cellulosic Ethanol Conference, Bluefire Ethanol’s chairman and CEO, Arnold Klann, described his company’s ethanol-making process as an “oddball” in the marketplace. The upside, though, is that the simplicity of the system - which uses a concentrated acid hydrolysis process - means they can use feedstocks that others cannot, he said.

Klann said that BlueFire does not require the use of any GMOs to achieve results. This was a conscious decision because they realized the technology could run into problems if they tried to set up shop in other countries (in, say, Europe) and needed GMOs to operate correctly. Thus, any mix of wood waste, agricultural residue, and other biomass can be fed into the BlueFire ethanol production system. This makes BlueFire Ethanol a good partner for landfills and municipal waste plants, where the junk that comes in can be turned into ethanol. Klann said that the useable life of a landfill can be increased by 50 to 100 percent if stuff is pulled out to make BlueFire ethanol. The economics still work for the landfill operators, because BlueFire takes the material from them after they’ve gotten the fees from the trash collectors for dumping it in the landfill. The BlueFire process can make 70 gallons of ethanol per ton of waste, which calculates out to 20 billion gallons a year in the U.S. “We don’t value our waste enough,” Klann said.

Listen in (30 min):

Our travel and lodging for this event was provided by GM.

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Filed under: Ethanol, Flex-Fuel

Photo by Pixthree. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

While Hurricane Ike caused gas to shoot up to $5 a gallon in some areas, one problem in the direct path of the storm was a total lack of gasoline. But, for one University of Houston mechanical engineering student, the absence of gasoline didn’t stop his evacuation: he just filled up with E85 and kept on moving. A story on Expo TV about senior Chris Reudelhuber’s flexfuel dash to safety reads a bit too anti-hybrid to take seriously, but it does point out one aspect of flexfuel vehicles that certainly doesn’t get much attention: the ability to fill up with whatever is available when supply gets tight. Thanks to Adam B. for the tip.

[Source: Expo TV]

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Filed under: Ethanol, Flex-Fuel

One of the problems major automakers cite as a reason that more ethanol isn’t used in their flex-fuel vehicles is that the people who own the cars just don’t know that you can put E85 into the tank. But there is another problem: not having any E85 available in your area. If you want to find out if you can get E85 locally, there has long been an ethanol station search available at the website of the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition. Douglas Cottrell over at Drive Flex Fuel thought that another E85 station locater was in order.

A quick check using my home Zip code turned up 80 E85 stations from NEVC and almost twice that (157) on Drive Flex Fuel within a 200 mile range. DFF allows you to limit your search to 10 miles (or 25 or other limits) of your home while the NEVC site only allows you to search for stations within 200 miles of your home (and how useful is that?). From the looks of it, it doesn’t seem that DFF discriminates between public and industrial sites. Cottrell wrote to AutoblogGreen to say that he updates the station list every month and has all states and zip codes listed.

[Source: Drive Flex Fuel]

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Filed under: Ethanol

With a website that looks like it was made in about four minutes, the Alliance for a Safe Alternative Fuels Environment (AllSAFE) is continuing its mission to make ethanol pumps less confusing for people pumping gas. It’s no surprise that filling your tank with E85 when you car is not flex-fuel capable is not a good idea, and AllSAFE is supporting the EPA’s recent enforcement letter that addresses gas stations selling gasoline blended with more than 10 percent ethanol. AllSAFE’s press release quotes the EPA as saying that gasoline blends higher than E10 “may cause damage to certain emissions control devices and systems and increased emissions from gasoline-only vehicles and engines. For this reason, the Clean Air Act prohibits retail gasoline stations from selling gasoline blended with more than 10 percent ethanol for use in gasoline-only vehicles and engines.”

While AllSAFE is in favor of better labeling on gas station pumps, the release (available after the jump) also has a pretty strong anti-ethanol feel: AllSAFE spokesman Kris Kiser is quoted as saying, “The proliferation of ethanol blender pumps at retail outlets in some regions of the country pose potentially serious problems for consumers and manufacturers alike.” Nonetheless, AllSAFE’s position paper states that the group is in favor of more ethanol in the nation fuel supply.

[Source: AllSAFE]

Continue reading AllSAFE supports go-slow approach to more ethanol blends at the pump

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By Larry Burns
GM Vice President, Research & Development
Volatile oil prices have been dominating the news lately, underscoring growing unease about the automobile’s heavy dependence on petroleum. As these concerns reverberate from Main Street to Wall Street, General Motors is working toward new solutions that will answer the growing demand for personal transportation in an affordable […]

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The answer is, yes.I am really impressed with the idea of generating some thin so productive by utilizing a source of energy that is wasted other wise. This logic has been applied by Alternate Energy Holdings (AEHI) and has proposed a process that…

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A super-green minivan has eventually been designed. Hats off to the Union of Concerned Scientists for its efforts to build it. The vehicle concept – named Vanguard – is capable of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent exceeding California’s…

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Filed under: Biodiesel, Ethanol, EV/Plug-in, Green Culture, Solar

In a lengthy, two-part editorial, David Roberts, a staff writer at Grist, presents his position on unifying the green lobby around the flag of URGE²: Use Renewably Generated Electricity, Efficiently. He is expecting bumper stickers and t-shirts - here’s why.

Mine negawatts: The cheapest source of new energy is not using it - increase efficiency and you can slash the growth in energy demand. See part two of the interview with Michael Brylawski of RMI for his related comments on how people don’t want extra kilowatts, they want hot showers and cold beers.

A good example of where to find negawatts is right above you - replacing standard incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs as is being proposed here in Australia. Similarly, make a car lighter and you can make it more efficient, or faster, or both.

Electrify: It’s easier to find clean, renewable sources of electricity than it is to find clean, renewable liquid fuels which leads to an obvious conclusion - shift almost all energy use to electricity. That’s not to say that there isn’t a lot of room for renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel in the mean time, but long term, the electricity grid is just more efficient.

Kill coal: “Coal is the enemy of the human race.” Coal fired power stations are responsible for a huge percentage of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Coal also causes environmental damage where it is mined and air pollution where is burning. Cleaning up coal is likely to make it financially non-viable in comparison to green technologies such as wind.

Upgrade the grid: Focus on energy storage and decentralisation through renewable sources like wind, solar, geothermal, hydrokinetic, cogeneration and biomethane. Developing good power storage technology is important to even out the supply intermittency of renewable energy sources. Examples of storage Roberts mentions include battery technology (both lithium and nano), hydrogen fuel cells, pumped storage, molten-salt storage and ultracapacitors.

Analysis: As Michael Brylawski said, “if the ultimate efficiency is, say, 10 percent of turning coal into refrigeration for your beer, every unit of energy saved at the fridge saves ten times that in coal.” I especially like the concept of mining negawatts - you can start today by using compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Related:

• GridWise sets aside four days in April to work on U.S. smart grid
• Wind and solar powered streetlights… I hope there’re no solar red-light-photo cameras!
• Interview with Michael Brylawski of RMI part two - Hypercars and cold beers

[Source: David Roberts / TomPaine.com]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: Diesel, Ethanol, Hybrid, Nissan, Volvo

The world’s second-largest truck company, Volvo AB, has agreed to buy Nissan Diesel Motor Co. for $1.1 billion in a bid to gain a greater foothold in the booming Asian market. Asia has been a weak spot for Volvo thus far, comprising just seven percent of its sales in 2006. By buying Japan’s fourth largest truck producer, Volvo should be able to establish a far more secure position through Nissan’s regional brand name and production capabilities.

Shares were up slightly in Volvo and hugely in Nissan Diesel indicating the market’s largely positive acceptance of the news. The purchase will also give Volvo access to technology Nissan Diesel has developed to reduce engine emissions, a fact that is likely to gain importance as more countries implement stringent clean air legislation. Other synergies are likely to follow with Nissan Diesel having said that it should be able to bring down purchasing costs by as much as 20 percent per annum by joint purchasing parts with Volvo. On the drawing board for the combined companies is a jointly developed diesel-electric hybrid powertrain and research into alternative fuels including ethanol.

Analysis: This type of consolidation is increasingly likely over the coming years as the cost of R&D on next-generation powertrain technologies increases. Good to see plans to bring more diesel-electric hybrid trucks to market.

Related:

• Volvo Trucks to display parallel hybrid diesel-electric system at U.K. show
• LA and Long Beach ports look to convert truck fleets to LNG
• Clean Heavy Duty Vehicle Conference: Tackling issues of biodiesel, NOx

[Source: Bloomberg]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Ethanol, Natural Gas

The merits of ethanol can be debated all day, with opposing viewpoints ranging from “at least it’s better than dino-juice” to “it’s barely better than hydrogen” to “it’s our only viable option”. While the truth probably lies somewhere in between the extremes, most agree that corn is not the best source for a starting biomass. But, if corn is not good enough for ethanol, how about we save the corncobs for “sponges” that can store 180 times their own volume of natural gas or methane gas and at one seventh the pressure of conventional natural gas tanks?

One exciting prospect of this technology is that the tanks made from corncobs bricks could be shaped into a flat “gas tank” style, eliminating the bulky storage tanks currently in use for natural gas storage. The current testbed is a pickup used by the Kansas City Office of Environmental Quality. This holds hope for a biomethane powered automobile. Will we ever be running our cars on cow manure?

[Source: The Sietch Blog via Hugg]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Soon, the question may not be “What can you make ethanol from”, but “What CAN’T you make ethanol from”. The newest I have found: sweet potatoes. Some areas of the world grow corn well, some grow soybeans and some grow sweet potatoes. The trick is to find the best crop in any given area, and use that. This is exactly what some Canadian tobacco farmers have done. According to this article, the number of Canadian tobacco farmers has dropped from 4,000 to a few hundred, as the numbers of smokers decline and imported tobacco became cheap to import.

Farmer Berry Murray went back to school and wrote his thesis on alternative crops for ethanol production. Instead of corn, Murray has plans to build a plant producing ethanol from sweet potatoes. Common practice for corn-based ethanol plants is to use certain residual biomass for animal feed. Alternatively, Murray plans to use the leftover biomass for the production of methane gas, creating additional renewable resources. With these gases, Murray plans to produce electricity using gas turbines to sell to the electric companies.

[Source: The Toronto Star via Treehugger]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: Etc., Ethanol

We like reporting on vehicles that run on alternative fuel here at autobloggreen. There is much debate on the merits of making fuel from corn, but remember, renewable fuel can be made from many other sources. And fuel as a renewable resource is definitely something to focus on these days.

Certainly, I can appreciate the time and effort that went into designing and building this fully functional prototype engine. Using a W9 design (the nine cylinders form a “W” shape). I can also appreciate the fact that it was designed to run on E85. Volkswagen currently builds some engines in the “W” shape as well, including the W16 engine in the Veyron, but none with nine cylinders, making this engine rather unique.

Weighing only 262 pounds complete with exhaust system, the engine as it sits can produce an estimated 526 HP at 10,700 rpm and 280 lbs-ft of torque at 7200 rpm. Yes, this one is a screamer with its redline at 12,500 rpm. One of the most amazing things about this engine, in my opinion, is that it was developed so well using computer aided design that the only part that needed to be changed from plans was the cam chain guides. One may assume that this was all made possible without the budgets of the huge automakers R&D labs. Most impressive. Click here for their web site.

[Source: Atom Racing via Jalopnik]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: Biodiesel, Ethanol, Legislation and Policy

The environment has lept into the spotlight over the last year in a way we haven’t seen before. Global warming and green house gas emissions have moved beyond a theory to be a call to arms for governments, business and individuals alike. As we all know, transport has a huge impact on green house gas emissions like carbon dioxide. In the United Kingdom, a number of new polices have recently been introduced to tax transport and encourage the use of more fuel efficient means to move around. A major report has proposed the implementation of a road pricing scheme to ease congestion and cut emissions while the U.K. government has announced plans to double taxes on air travel, increase petroleum fuel taxes and simultaneously lower biodiesel fuel taxes.

This is but one example of governments around the world moving to offer tax breaks and subsidies to promote the far more carbon-neutral biofuels of ethanol and biodiesel. Under the United Kingdom’s Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation, five percent of transport fuel sold by 2010 must come from renewable sources. This relatively small percentage is expected to cut carbon emissions by an amazing 1m tonnes, equivalent to taking 1m cars off the road.

Businesses are getting behind emissions reductions schemes as well, for example, the giant Tesco supermarket chain is currently trailing a system developed by Clean Air Power, which enables its truck fleet to run on a mixture of natural gas and diesel. Not only does this allow Tesco to meet local emissions regulations, but they will save considerably on their fuel bill as well. The chance to improve the bottom line will always get a company’s attention, but often its individual employees that bring such opportunities into focus for business. If you’re working for a company, make sure you take a look around for a chance to save them money, and your environment as well.

Related:

• London parking authority setting fees based on CO2 emissions
• Britain’s National Farmer’s Union says biofuels pose no threat to UK food production
• Rent a green (tomato) car in London

[Source: The Guardian]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: Ethanol

The DOE is partnering with the Washington University in St. Louis to sequence the DNA of six photosynthetic bacteria. Funding of $1.6 million is being devoted to the project based on the potential for these bacteria to be a great source of biofuel in the future. The potential exists for microscopic cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) to capture sunlight and then produce clean ethanol via a biochemical process.

The six strains that have been identified are related but come from different environments including Taiwan, India and deep ocean. It is felt that by combining different characteristics from these strains, a more efficient form of metabolised bioenergy can be derived. Cyanobacteria utilise carbon dioxide as their primary cellular carbon source and ferment without the need for added yeast to produce ethanol as is required with regular biomass.

Related:

• Using micro algae for jet fuel
• See a free algae biodiesel presentation in San Fran on the 9th
• Solix and Colorado State University team to commercialize algae to biodiesel process

[Source: Oilgae]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: Ethanol

Xethanol Corporation and Renewable Spirits, LLC have teamed up to build a citrus peel based pilot ethanol production facility in Florida. The pilot plant should be able to produce up to 50,000 gallons / 190,000 litres of ethanol in the upcoming citrus harvesting season alone, later expanding to over 500,000 gallons / 1,900,000 litres per year.

Xethanol is positioning itself as being committed to the production of ethanol and related products using locally available raw materials to service nearby major urban markets. Their biomass technology moves beyond traditional corn-based ethanol and includes everything from wood chips and yard waste to corn stover and municipal solid waste. Because most organic waste material is now either abandoned or land-filled at the producer’s expense, biomass is potentially a significantly cheaper feedstock for ethanol production than corn.

Related:

• Volkswagen announces power-train roadmap toward oil free future
• U.S. joins Interamerican Ethanol Commission but discourages imports
• Shell president prefers E85 from biomass waste, not corn

[Source: Renewable Energy Access]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: Ethanol, Green Daily

Last fall, A1GP was having some technical problems using a 30 percent ethanol blend in the race series’ vehicles. Today, the organizers have announced that all 22 teams that will compete in next weekend’s A1GP Taupo race in New Zealand will use the Hiperflo[TM] E30 in the tanks. This ethanol is made from European sugar beets and made solely for use by A1GP racers (I won’t bring up the craziness of shipping the biofuel from Europe to New Zealand for a “greener” race). According to A1GP, Hiperflo was developed with input from engine manufacturer Zytek and has 21 percent fewer CO₂ emissions “per car based on a wheel to wheel calculation.”

A1GP CEO Pete da Silva said in a statement (after the jump) that the E30 blend is some sort of “revolution.” More precisely, he said that, “Through our THINK Greener Racing initiative we’re committed to leading a revolution that helps the planet and safeguards the future of our sport. The number one priority is to produce a cutting edge series, but we firmly believe we can deliver exciting racing while minimising the impact of our operations on the environment.” Hey, ethanol seems to be working for the Indy 500.

[Source: A1GP]

A1GP makes switch to Greener Racing

Taupo, New Zealand - A1GP World Cup of Motorsport will make history next weekend (18 - 20 January) as all 22 national teams competing in the A1GP Taupo, New Zealand take to the track with biofuel in their tanks. The landmark event will make A1GP the first truly global motorsport series to race on a 30 per cent biofuel mix.

The cornerstone of an ambitious series of initiatives to help reduce its environmental footprint, A1GP’s new fuel, an ethanol based product Hiperflo[TM] E30, is sourced from sugar beet in Europe and produced specifically for A1GP. Developed in partnership with Zytek, the series’ engine manufacturer, the fuel produces less harmful particulate matter than conventional fuels and will reduce CO2 emissions by 21 per cent per car based on a wheel to wheel calculation.

The introduction of E30 was delayed from the start of the season to ensure vehicle performance wasn’t affected by the change, but A1GP CEO Pete da Silva says the short wait has only made the switch more exciting.

‘Through our THINK Greener Racing initiative we’re committed to leading a revolution that helps the planet and safeguards the future of our sport,’ da Silva said. ‘The number one priority is to produce a cutting edge series, but we firmly believe we can deliver exciting racing while minimising the impact of our operations on the environment.’

Circuit changes offer new challenge to A1GP drivers
A1GP’s inaugural meeting in Taupo last January was widely touted as a huge success, but some of the drivers found it tough to overtake around the 3.5 km layout. In a bid to make this season’s event even better, encouraging more overtaking, one of the last corners on the circuit has been tightened up to create an extra opportunity for passing.

Last season, Turn 10 was a smooth, flowing, fourth gear corner taken at roughly 190 km/h. However, work has been carried out to transform it into a sharp 90 degree left-hander, which will be taken much slower by the A1GP cars. Significantly, the change has been made directly in front of the main grandstands seating 8,500 people, so the drivers will be fighting for position in front of 85 per cent of the seated audience.

New rookie for home nation
After a busy winter break wakeboarding, cray fishing and racing jumbo jets, home nation A1 Team New Zealand’s lead driver Jonny Reid is keen to get back on track and will be aiming for a repeat of last year’s double podium finish in the Sprint and Feature races in front of his home crowd.

‘It sounds cheesy, but it’s such a buzz to drive for your country,’ Reid said. ‘Having the nation behind you is such an amazing feeling. Last year I got quite frustrated being so successfully defended by France. It is a very technical circuit and last season it was so new that if you slipped off line it was hard to get back on that groove. You had to be so accurate. That same precision will be needed this year, but I’m sure you’ll see much more action. The track is more mature and it definitely provides more opportunities to have a crack. Courage will be rewarded, but mistakes will be punished.’

Reid will be supported by rookie driver 18-year-old Brendon Hartley from Palmerston North, who is now based in Austria as part of the Red Bull Junior Race Team. New Zealand is currently third in the championship, 20 points behind series leader Switzerland but just one point behind second placed France.

A1 Team Australia reshuffle: Ahead of its home race in Sydney next month, A1 Team Australia has confirmed that John Martin will race for the remainder of the 2007/08 season. The 23-year-old from Rockhampton, Northern Queensland, who has been the team’s rookie so far this season, will replace Ian Dyk. Australia currently lies 17th in the championship standings, having only scored two points this season, with ninth place in Sepang’s Feature race.

Fresh talent for championship leader: Twenty-year-old Tom Dillmann will take on the role of rookie driver for championship leader A1 Team Switzerland at Taupo and Sydney, making him the team’s fourth different rookie so far this season. Switzerland currently holds a 19-point lead over France in the 2007/08 title race and Neel Jani will continue as the team’s main driver for the next two events.

Pre-event PR activity: The pre-event PR activity for the Taupo race weekend will take place on Thursday (17 January) morning on Lake Taupo. The drivers will take part in a Lakeside Fishing Challenge on board two large boats with invited media and the Mayor of Taupo. Drivers from the following nations will be taking part in the event: New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, India, South Africa, Canada, Great Britain, Malaysia, Mexico, Lebanon.

Information on copyright free television footage and still images from the event can be found on the media website at www.A1GP.com/press.

About Taupo circuit: The magnificent Lake Taupo provides the backdrop for one of the most picturesque races of the season. Racing in front of the Taupo Volcano, A1GP visited New Zealand for the first time in 2007 in a hugely popular meeting. A1GP became the largest international racing series to visit Taupo in January 2007, on what was essentially a brand new 3.5 km (2.17 mile) circuit. New facilities and a pit complex were also built to provide a spectacular road course for A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.

The new Taupo Racetrack complex, built by MIT Development Ltd, took over the original site used for the existing Taupo Car Club. The old 1.4 km circuit underwent an upgrading and lengthening, to create the new international circuit. The complex now also includes a motorsport business park and driver training centre. In addition, recent developments to the race control and pit lane building include a row of second-floor corporate suites above the pit lane.

The track includes three alternative configurations, with two separate pit areas and start/finish lanes, to allow simultaneous use of two tracks. The international circuit, used for A1GP, features an 830 metre straight, which also doubles as a drag strip.

Track length: 3.5 km (2.17 miles)

Lap record: 1m14.742s, recorded by Nico Hülkenberg, A1 Team Germany, January 2007

The A1GP Taupo, New Zealand event runs from 18-20 January, starting with the rookie driver and developing nations’ sessions on Friday from 11.00 to 11.25 and again from 11.35 to 12.00. All 22 teams can take part in the later practice session from 14.00 to 15.00. Final practice and qualifying for the Sprint and Feature race will take place on Saturday with the two races scheduled to run on Sunday at 11.00 and 15.00 respectively.

2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport points standings

Bespoke A1GP event books for media and commentators’ guides providing up to date information about the forthcoming race weekend are available to download at www.A1GP.com/press.

To apply for race accreditation, please register for access to the media website at www.A1GP.com/press.

You will be sent a unique username and password which you must use to login to the media website for all future visits.

Please click ‘race accreditation’ and select which race you would like to attend before completing your details, media requirements and submitting a supporting letter from your Editor.

You will receive confirmation of your pass by e-mail at least two weeks prior to the race.
To receive regular updates from A1GP, download copyright free images or to register for media accreditation to attend an A1GP race, please register for access to the bespoke media website at www.A1GP.com/press.

For additional information about A1GP including ticket sales and television viewing times and a full list of international broadcast partners, please visit www.A1GP.com.

ABOUT A1GP WORLD CUP OF MOTORSPORT
Launched in March 2004, the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport is more than just another racing phenomenon; it’s an entirely new concept. Pitting driver against driver and country against country for the first time in history, A1GP brings together 22 nations to compete as equals, without financial or technological advantage.

With three days of on-track action, an A1GP event offers a rare opportunity for fans to interact with teams and drivers. Exclusively inclusive, A1GP brings the thrill of international motorsport to billions of fans across the globe.

Now entering its third season and taking in a mix of established world-famous venues plus exciting new state-of-the-art facilities and tight twisty street circuits, A1GP promises to deliver high-speed adrenalin fuelled action at every turn.

This season’s fixture list is as follows:

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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Filed under: Green, Tech, Ford

Ford has yet to release its first EcoBoost engines but is reportedly already hard at work on the technology’s next phase. Rumors indicate that the new engine technology is codenamed Bobcat and uses small amounts of ethanol injection to improve power and reduce emissions. Ethanol carries a very high octane rating, which allows an engine to be tuned for more power. An engine with ethanol injection can run a much higher compression ratio along with a small turbocharger as the ethanol would be injected directly into the engine’s combustion chamber, thereby eliminating precompression, which is more commonly referred to as knock and can be extremely hazardous to your engine’s health. The alcohol injection would be performed on an entirely different fuel injection system as the gasoline, complete with its own fuel tank. It would have to be closely metered, but should only need refilled once every few months since the amount used would be so small.

Early estimates put the new Bobcat engine tech at about a $1,100 price premium over a standard gasoline engine, but the turbocharging and gasoline direct injection that makes up EcoBoost accounts for $700 of that charge. While that may seem like a steep amount, consider that many truck buyers opt for high-power diesel engines that carry premiums of $5,000 or more.

[Source: PickupTrucks.com]

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