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GENERAL MOTORS ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

Strategy

For GM, energy alternatives that help reduce our dependency on petroleum and advanced technologies that improve fuel economy and reduce emissions are the keys to developing sustainable transportation. GM’s strategy to do this includes the following elements:

GM is continuing to improve the traditional engine and transmission with advanced technologies such as active fuel management, direct injection, turbocharging, six-speed transmissions and variable valve timing; as well as with the use of alternative fuels like E85 ethanol.
GM has a broad commitment to producing electrically driven vehicles that help diversify energy sources, reduce emissions and improve fuel efficiency. Vehicles include hybrids, plug-in hybrids, extended-range electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Fuel economy

GM is committed to continually improving the fuel economy of its vehicles with various advanced technologies.

For the 2008 model year in the U.S., GM offers more vehicle models than any other automaker that achieve 30 miles per gallon or more on the highway, as estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency (17 models for 2008).
GM is focused on applying advanced fuel-saving technologies to the highest consuming vehicles first, so as to realize the greatest amount of fuel savings.
During the past three decades in the U.S., new-vehicle fleet fuel economy has more than doubled for passenger cars and increased 60 percent for light trucks.

Greenhouse gas emissions – USCAP partnership

GM announced in May 2007 that it joined the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP).
USCAP has issued a set of principles and recommendations toward slowing, stopping and reversing the growth of greenhouse gas emissions over the shortest period of time reasonably achievable.
GM was the first automaker to support this partnership of industry and environmental organizations working to address climate change through advanced technology on an economy-wide, market-driven basis.

Advanced gasoline engines and transmissions

Gasoline engines

GM continues to make improvements to the traditional gasoline engine with advanced features and designs such as active fuel management, direct injection and turbocharging.
GM also recently demonstrated the combustion technology called homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) for the first time in two driveable concept vehicles – the 2007 Saturn Aura and Opel Vectra. HCCI provides up to a 15-percent fuel savings when combined with other fuel saving technologies, including cam phasing, direct injection and two-step valvetrain, while meeting current emissions standards. GM’s demonstration prototypes can operate on HCCI up to approximately 55 mpg, and an extended-range operation is intended as further refinements to the control system and engine hardware are made.

Advanced transmissions

During the 2006 model year, GM launched an aggressive rollout of six-speed automatic transmissions to provide improved fuel economy and performance.
For 2008, GM offers nine six-speed transmissions in 40 global vehicle models, and an equal number of manual six-speed variants are available in 20 models.
By the end of 2009, GM will have introduced 10 new variants of six-speed transmissions, producing 3 million units annually.

E85 ethanol

Producing E85 flexible fuel vehicles is part of GM’s strategy to reduce vehicle emissions and dependency on petroleum. E85 is a fuel comprised of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
With more than 4 million FlexFuel vehicles on the road globally, GM is the leader in E85 vehicles.
In the U.S., GM has more than 3 million FlexFuel E85-capable vehicles on the road, and has committed to have 50 percent of annual volume E85 capable by 2012.
In the U.S., there are more than 7 million E85-capable vehicles on the road. (This is a total industry number.)
To help expand the availability of E85 ethanol in the U.S., GM has announced partnerships in 15 states to locate more than 300 new E85 ethanol fueling pumps at stations in these areas. GM will continue to establish more partnerships to do the same.

In early 2008, GM announced a major partnership with Coskata Inc. of Warrenville, Ill. to help commercialize its technology to produce cellulosic ethanol from biomass and household waste. Coskata’s process:

Produces up to 84 percent less CO 2 than gasoline production,
Costs less than $1 per gallon to produce,
Uses less than a gallon of water to produce a gallon of ethanol, about 75 percent less water use than today’s ethanol production.

For the 2008 model year in the U.S., GM offers 11 E85-capable FlexFuel vehicles:
- Chevrolet Tahoe GMC Yukon
- Chevrolet Suburban GMC Yukon XL
- Chevrolet Avalanche GMC Sierra
- Chevrolet Silverado GMC Savana
- Chevrolet Impala
- Chevrolet Uplander
- Chevrolet Express
In Brazil, more than 95 percent of GM’s fleet is equipped to use E85 ethanol, and E85 models account for 90 percent of sales. Since 2003, GM has sold more than 3 million E85 vehicles in Brazil.
In Europe, GM is the leader in sales of E85-capable vehicles. The Saab 9-5 BioPower is Europe’s best-selling E85 vehicle.
GM’s Saab BioPower is now available in Australia and is being considered for additional markets in the Asia Pacific region as well.

Diesels

Diesel engines are a very important part of GM’s global product portfolio.
For 2008 GM offers 16 engine variants available in 41 vehicle lines around the world and sells more than 1 million diesel engines annually.
GM’s diesel products offer a range of choices from the 1.3L 4-cylinder diesel engine sold in the Opel Agila and Corsa, up to the U.S. 6.6L V-8 Duramax diesel GM sells in medium- and heavy-duty pickup trucks (Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra) and full-size vans (Chevy Express, GMC Savana)
GM first introduced the Duramax diesel in the U.S. in the 2001 model year and since then, customer enthusiasm for this heavy-duty diesel has been outstanding. In fact, GM’s heavy-duty pickup truck market share has jumped nearly tenfold in the seven years that Duramax engines have been offered.
The award-winning and segment-leading (in horsepower and torque) Duramax 6.6-liter V-8 is a four-valve, high pressure, common rail direct injection diesel currently equipped with a diesel particulate filter to meet stringent 2007 emissions requirements.
GM recently announced plans to introduce a new premium Duramax 4.5L V-8 turbo-diesel after 2009 for use in light-duty trucks in the U.S. It will be capable of meeting 2010 emissions standards, will be compliant in all 50 states, and will improve fuel efficiency by up to 25 percent. The new diesel will feature a diesel particulate filter and selective catalytic reduction (urea injection) to reduce NO x emissions.
GM also announced (March 2007) a premium 2.9-liter V-6 turbo diesel that features state-of-the-art injection and combustion technology for low emissions and high performance for the Cadillac CTS in 2009. Opel, Saab and Vauxhall applications will follow. This new engine will be sold mainly in Europe.

Hybrids

In the U.S., GM’s strategy is to save as many gallons of fuel as possible by first applying hybrid technology to high-volume and high fuel-consuming vehicles like mass transit buses, full-size trucks and SUVs.
Our hybrid portfolio is expanding. By the end of 2008, GM is expected to offer more hybrid models (8) in North America than any other automaker. The vehicles are: Saturn Vue Green Line, Saturn Aura Green Line, Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, GMC Yukon Hybrid, Cadillac Escalade Hybrid, Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid and GMC Sierra Hybrid.

2008 model year hybrids:
- GM Allison two-mode hybrid system for transit buses: The buses debuted in 2003. To date, GM has announced the delivery of more than 2,700 hybrid buses to 81 cities in the U.S. and Canada. Since their debut, the buses powered by GM’s hybrid technology have saved more than 3 million gallons of fuel – enough to fill 6 million 2-liter soda bottles – and reduced emissions by 30,000 metric tons.
- Saturn Vue Green Line: Debuted in fall 2006, provides a 20-percent fuel economy improvement over the non-hybrid Vue by using the affordable GM Hybrid System, and achieves the highest highway fuel economy of any SUV at 32 mpg.
- Saturn Aura Green Line: Debuted for the 2007 model year, uses the GM Hybrid System, is one of the lowest-priced hybrids on the market at $22,795. It achieves an EPA estimated 24 mpg city/32 mpg highway.
- Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid: Debuted for the 2008 model year, uses GM Hybrid system to achieve 24 city/32 highway mpg, is most affordable hybrid version of a midsize sedan at $22,790.
- Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid and GMC Yukon Hybrid: Debuted for 2008 model year, equipped with GM’s new 2 Mode Hybrid system, will deliver up to a 50 percent improvement in city fuel economy (and 30 percent overall for both city and highway) over their non-hybrid models.

Upcoming hybrid vehicles:
- 2009 Saturn Vue Green Line: The vehicle will be available with either the GM Hybrid system, or the new 2 Mode Hybrid system. The 2 Mode version is expected to achieve up to a 45-percent improvement in combined city and highway fuel economy compared with the non-hybrid Vue.
- 2009 Cadillac Escalade, 2009 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra (crew cab versions): These vehicles will all be available with the 2 Mode Hybrid system.
- Saturn Vue Plug-In Hybrid: GM is the only automaker to announce it intends to produce a plug-in hybrid. Production timing depends on development of advanced battery technology, but given the huge potential the Vue Green Line plug-in hybrid offers for fuel economy improvement – possibly achieving double the fuel efficiency of any current SUV – this is a top-priority program for GM.

E-Flex

GM’s E-Flex System is an all-electric vehicle architecture that consists of a common drivetrain system that uses grid electricity stored in a lithium-ion battery. An on-board range extender that can be a gasoline/E85-powered engine, diesel engine or hydrogen fuel cell system, creates additional electricity to extend the vehicle’s range when needed.
Production engineering has been initiated for two variants of the E-Flex System:
- The Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle (E-REV), variant uses electricity stored in a lithium-ion battery pack to power the electric motor to drive the wheels at all speeds. For longer trips, the Volt’s on-board engine-generator set (range-extender), powered by gasoline or E85, generates additional electricity to power the car well beyond the 300-mile range customers have come to expect.
- 40-Mile Daily Driving Pattern - The Chevy Volt will use zero gasoline and produce zero emissions and could nearly eliminate going to the gas station altogether.
- 60-Mile Daily Driving Pattern - Drivers who travel 60 miles a day (over 21,000 miles per year) would save nearly 570 gallons of gasoline annually (compared to a similar size vehicle that averages 30 mpg), averaging about 150 mpg.
- The fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) is built on the same architecture as the E-REV variant and uses many of the same components. This version couples our next-generation fuel cell system with a smaller lithium-ion battery to provide up to 300 miles of petroleum- and emissions-free electric driving range.

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles

GM continues to see hydrogen fuel cells as the best long-term solution for reducing dependency on oil.
GM is a leader in fuel cell technology and we have demonstrated our fuel cell vehicles around the world in places like Washington, D.C., Tokyo, Berlin, Shanghai and Korea.
In October 2007, GM activated Project Driveway – the largest market test of fuel cell vehicles in the world. Project Driveway involves the loan of 100 Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell vehicles to everyday drivers, celebrities and other dignitaries to gauge interest, consumer reaction and vehicle performance in the U.S. Vehicle deliveries to program participants began in January. Additional deployments in Europe and Asia are also planned.
GM’s goal is to design and validate a fuel cell propulsion system by 2010 that is competitive with current combustion systems on durability and performance, and that ultimately can be built at scale affordably.

Facilities

Global energy
General Motors has reduced energy use at its global manufacturing plants by nearly 21 percent during the last six years through improved practices at existing plants and innovative “green” design at new ones.

GM is a major user of renewable energy in the manufacturing sector worldwide, deriving energy for its global operations from solar, hydro and landfill gas.

Global waste
General Motors focuses first on eliminating waste, and then recycling waste that cannot be avoided.

Today, GM’s facilities worldwide recycle 89 percent of the waste they generate.
General Motors has reduced by 36 percent the amount of waste generated per vehicle during the last five years.
General Motors currently has 10 facilities that have achieved zero-landfill status. These facilities send no waste from production operations to landfills. They recycle or create energy from all waste materials from daily operations.

Global CO²
GM’s efforts to reduce energy, water and waste while increasing the use of renewable energy sources have resulted in significant reductions in CO 2 emissions of more than 22 percent during the past six years.

Water
During the past six years, GM has reduced water use at its manufacturing facilities worldwide by nearly 15 percent.

Solar
General Motors has two of the largest corporate solar power installations in the U.S. on the roofs of warehouse facilities in California.

One of these solar arrays is on GM’s Service Parts Operations Parts Distribution Center in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. It was the first public solar project in the U.S. of over 1 mega watt when it began operating in fall 2007.
GM’s second solar array, also 1 mega watt, on the roof of another parts distribution center in Fontana, Calif., became operational in December 2007.
Both sites provide excess electricity back to the grid for sale to other users.

GMNA “green” buildings
General Motors’ Lansing Delta Township Assembly Plant has received a gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. The assembly plant, which produces the Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia crossovers, is the only automotive manufacturing plant in the world – as well as the largest facility and the most complex manufacturing site – to ever receive any level of LEED certification.

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