Holden Commodore goes E85 in 2010
December 5, 2008 by David Twomey
Holden will introduce a flex-fuel version of its large-car Commodore in a little over 12 months, at the same time driving a push for the widespread supply of E85 based fuel.
- David Twomey
The Chairman and Managing Director of GM-Holden, Mark Reuss, in an end of year review given to motoring media in Melbourne last night, but embargoed until this afternoon, said the Commodore E85 would be on sale in 2010.
He also announced that the version of the Chevrolet Volt electric-powered vehicle to be sold in Australia would carry the Holden nameplate.
“I can assure you that the Volt, when we start selling it in 2012, will have a lion badge on it,” Mr Reuss said.
He said little else could be said about the plans to sell the Volt in Australia at the moment as the development of the electric car was moving at a considerable pace, but the car would becoming here as a Holden Volt.
He said that at the same time the company would be taking up the E85 fuel supply cause with government, producers and the fuel supply companies to ensure there was widespread availability of the ethanol fuel.
He admitted that GM-Holden subsidiary, GM Premium Brand, had been a test bed for the E85 Commodore when it introduced Saab 9-3 vehicles with E85 capability.
Buyers of those cars have had little chance to use them on the ‘green’ fuel because supply is currently restricted to about four service stations Australia-wide.
Mr Reuss says that will change with the introduction of the E85 Commodore and GM-Holden would be working closely with ethanol producer CSR, and fuel suppliers, such as Caltex and BP, to ensure that the ethanol-based fuel was widely available.
Ethanol powered cars general produce more power than those on straight petrol, and consume more fuel, but that fuel is usual 30-40 percent cheaper than petrol, which would mean E85 should currently sell for about $0.65 a litre.
Mr Reuss said Holden already had substantial experience in building ethanol powered engines, as it was producing the current V6 engine for export in configurations up to E85.
The Holden Commodores will be flex-fuel vehicles, which means they can run on any combination of fuel from straight 91RON petrol through to an 85 percent ethanol blend.
Mr Reuss said GM-Holden was particularly keen to promote the use of E85 in Australia as the fuel was produced here from waste products, which put it outside the “food-or-fuel” argument.
He said there was currently the potential to replace 10 percent of Australia’s oil imports with ethanol fuel “ and that has to be very good for the country.”
He would not be drawn on the possibility of tax breaks for E85 buyers, as has been the case in Europe, where the fuel has been extensively introduced in the past two years, but said he thought the move was consistent with the Federal Government’s recently announced $6-billion green car initiative.
Mr Reuss spoke at some length about the Australian government’s initiatives to keep the car industry alive and praised the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and the Industry Minister, Senator Kim Carr, for their efforts.
He said the government plans were fair and reasonable as they required the car companies to put in as well as the government.
On the question of ethanol fuel supply Mr Reuss said Gm-Holden would be working closely with local ethanol producers and was also taking a close interest in the development work being done in the US, which is support by parent company General Motors, into the development of cellulose ethanol, which he thought could eventually also be produced in Australia.
Mr Reuss admitted that ethanol was not an answer to the fuel problems for cars but he said it was a way for Australia to leverage its reliance on oil.
He said GM-Holden would be showing the lead in the use of alternative fuels and as well as E85 would be looking at the use of LPG and possibly CNG fuels.
In an apparent swipe at some other manufacturers reliance on hybrid technology he said this was also an alternative but one which didn’t seem to provide sound economic arguments.
He said hybrid techno logy was usually quite expensive for the fuel reductions that it delivered.
He said Holden would not be looking to charge a premium for its E85 engined Commodore.
“You cannot charge a lot of money for people to use ethanol in their cars, so we won’t be opting to do that,” he said.
Asked if GM-Holden had the capacity to produce a small car in Australia with its current infrastructure Mr Reuss emphatically replied “yes”.
He said he would not confirm or deny any such plans but said the com pany would have the capacity in Australia to build a car smaller than the Commodore.
He added that if such a plan was adopted then the vehicle would be drawn from the ‘world car’ pool of Gm products and it would also have to have export potential.
He said that the car would have to meet the Federal Government’s Green Car requirements and that he believed such a car could be made in Australia and meet a sub-$20,000 price point.
Print it: 
At last some good news for Holden. I cant wait to try out the Volt.
Yeah, if they’re still here in 2010. I still think it’s too late, but I’m sure Australians will forgive Holden for being ten years late to offering alternative fuels. Why no diesel yet? They could probably get that up and going quite soon. Wouldn’t the diesel from the Epica work reasonably well in the Commodore? There can’t be too much of a weight difference.
Pity it aint Methanol …………Then again not long ago it was almost cheaper than 98!
I agree BM it would be good if it ran on methanol particularly as there are so many Commodore Highway Patrol cars…. ha ha
Great to see Holden developing the Commodore like this. There are always upgrades being announced.
I hope the Volt still looks good in 2012. That’s a long way off.
but why build it when you cant get the fuel, what good is it?? i only know of 1 bowser in NSW???
Holden is pushing a dead horse. Ethanol takes more room to produce (acreage), costs more, takes a huge amount of high quality food produce (ie Wheat, Sugar etc) to produce and will drive up the prices of food, limit the availability of cheap affordable produce to poorer nations, and will inevitably drive up the price of food (this has already occurred in some parts of the world, European leading nations such as Italy have already experienced this).
Third world and developing nations have already begun producing food for the production of Ethanol due to the higher prices they can attain for this produce, subsequently food prices in those countries have risen. It’s a serious issue when we start using food to produce fuel. The USA has already cut its aid deliveries to third world nations in African due to their need to use this produce (ie Wheat) to produce ethanol. Countries like Argentina are planting crops to sell to foreign nations to produce fuel. All the while we are producing another more serious problem, the future scarcity of affordable nutrition for a large percentage of the world, and the increased prices of food for all leading nations.
Get real Holden. Maybe the collapse of GM will bring about some serious forward thinking in a company that has obviously not planned their future around a sustainable product.
Well said James. The big question is whether GM will be around long enough for all this to happen.
And whoever changed their farms over to ethanol crop production (as opposed to food) on the back of US$100 plus per barrel crude oil prices must now be having serious discussions with their Bank Managers. Get too greedy, and it comes back to bite you, as they say.
Haven’t we got unlimited quantities of LPG/LNG in Australia, and nationwide availablity????
Haven’t we now got home grown direct LPG injection technology????
There are some stupid prices for it in remote places, but this surely could be regulated.
SPOT ON JAMES,
i would like to add,for all the city jockies,that while alot of dry land farmers got reasonable wheat/oat crops off this year,many for the first time in 7 years,alot of other farmers with irrigation have decided (quite rightly)than it’s far more profitable to sell off their water allocations,and get a town job.this water sell off will be the death of regional australia.how the australian gov’t dreamed it up is anybody’s guess,but its to do with a few ex-powerful pollies,and few banks,and alot of peoples super funds.the ultimate end result will be higher grocery prices 4 everyone.now i’m all for cheaper fuel prices,but seriously if anybody thinks that e85 will be cheaper than petrol,their dreaming!!!
if its standard who cares.What holden really should do is looka t small engines,Better transmisions and building a small car now.I hope GM sells of holdent o another comapany then some change will haqppen
OH MY GOD RECKLESS SAID SOMETHING SMART!!!!!
mark that down as an event that happens as often as the smiley face moon and stars thingy in the sky.
Seriously though, reckless has hit the nail right on the head.
thats the biggest thing i cant figure out. i am constantly banging my head on the desk as to why they dont just take LPG further.
everything is already in place, they just need to push it.
I know ford are upgrading their LPG system at start of next year, lets hope they do a full monty thing with it so i can stop banging my head
oh,
there is just something about ethanol.
even though ive got that nice little ethanol sticker inside my fuel flap, for a 3cpl saving im reluctant to throw it in.
ive never really done a milage test myself, but ive heard you will lose a few miles from the tank.
oh, and will 98 Octane Ethanol return the exact same performance figures as 98 unleaded??
just curious
Salesman – if you want to try the Volttry sticking yer digit in a sockt. Ha Ha.
Good moves by Holden but I’m not sure about the environmental sustainability of E85. Does it not just creat food shortages?
GM & Holden are working & investing with a company that produces Ethanol from waste; wood, plant matter, etc, etc.
Therefore not requiring that farmers switch from food crops for food, over to food crops for ethanol production.
By the way, where’s everyones’ darling Toyota on this?
They have had diesels in Hiluxs & Hiaces for years & years, but no Diesel in Camry or Corolla, or Aurion for that matter.
They sell a Diesel Corolla in NZ!
Also, the Prius sells for what, neary $40 large?
It’s much cheaper in the US, so why do we get slugged so much extra for the same car?
It’s not like it’s had much in the way of upgrades; just the 1st model, & now the current model for the last few years.
If Toyota are just going to fully import the parts for the Hybrid Camry, then why do they need $35 million of Gov’t Assistance to do so?
If Toyota truly was the green, caring, people friendly car company they say they are, then we should have had cheaper Prius’ & Hybrid Camry/Aurion & Corolla from the get-go.
I agree, LPG would be a great way to go, as long as you can convince the punters that it’s cheaper & better overall, against the higher consumption.
Hi & Dry (Hyundai) have a good proposition: an LPG/Hybrid.
Best of both worlds, but they reckon it’s a Left Hand Drive only model at this stage.
Holden should be applauded for fnally bringing E85/Flex Fuel to the Australian market, considering they’ve been selling these engines in Commodores in Brazil for a while now.
I guess Toyota et al, don’t sell any Flex Fuel/E85 cars in Brazil, & THAT’S why they haven’t introduced any models like that here…………….
tonyn Says:
December 5th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
That’s my biggest question, afaik there are only maybe 10 E85 pumps in Australia.
Agree with the LPG scenario, for Aust that is the best outcome short term. THe increased consumption really only pertaining to the Carby still in E-Gas at present, but the after market (and upcoming factory) sequential injection systems are very close to standard consumption and power figures. Now that we can keep the I6 for longer then the E-Gas upgrade will be able to pay for itself.
There was a two part documentary on SBS recently called Heat which dealt with how US industry and government were coping (not) with the challenge of global warning. It had a segment on ethanol which outlined the issues ivolved in regards to producing it. It also had a particularly harsh segment on the three manufacturers currently asking for a bail out with some bad (from a publicity point of view) footage of the Volt in action. I recommend people look it up as I found it very informative.
Frontman,
the aftermarket systems offer no better consumption than the old tech E-Gas. Dual fuel holds back the SVI’s potential, and the old Tech carby holds back the E-Gas
on the price side of things, LPG prices are the biggest rort. why doesnt the government audit those prices??
why did LPG prices have to double when the unleaded prices did??
how come LPG prices havent fallen like Unleaded prices have??
when LPG initially started to increase in price 5 or so years ago, the Taxi runners were screaming due to their regulated fares.
so what did the government do to shut the main lobby group up?? they allowed them to pass the increases on to the commuter.
easier to do that than show a bit of muscle i guess….
So much miss information – about food stuffs that is .
Ethanol is made from the starch component of just about anything that can be grown . The rest is left to be utilised any way you like .
The reason fuels like E85 don’t return the same fuel consumption as ULP is that often current engines can’t use the extra effective octane that high ethanol content fuels have . If engines had higher compression ratios and strategies like direct combustion chamber injection the gap between E85 and ULP consumption can be almost nothing . I believe it takes on some of the characteristics of a diesel engine but without the compression ignition or necessarily the long stroke or narrow rev range .
The greatest barrier to high content ethanol fuels its its water absorbency – I think the term is hygroscopic . If the manufacturers can find a way to continuously separate water from the fuel its water content may be manageable .
In time .