Classic Chevrolet/Hummer’s E85 fuel station. Click image to enlarge

Grapevine, Texas – A General Motors dealership in Texas has opened an on-site fuelling station dedicated to providing E85, E10 and biodiesel renewable fuels to its customers. It marks the first ownership of public biofuel pumps by a new car and truck dealership.

Classic Chevrolet/Hummer, which sold more Chevrolet trucks than any other U.S. dealer in 2007, spent more than US$500,000 to install nine pumps at the new Classic Clean Fuels station, adjacent to its dealership and quick-lube operation in suburban Dallas.

“We sell a lot of trucks capable of running on alternative fuels like E85, and even though there has been some increased availability, we saw a need for more E85 pumps where drivers could fill up,” said general manager Charles Martin. “This was the right thing for us to do for our customers, and it’s good for the Metroplex.”

To celebrate the grand opening of the pumps, General Motors sponsored a two-hour promotion, where E85 sold for US85.9 cents per gallon, instead of the regular price of US$2.74. Less than one per cent of public filling stations in the United States offer E85 fuel.

The dealership is also converting its onsite pump to E85 and will deliver all new FlexFuel vehicles to customers with a tank of E85. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which operates a rental branch within the Classic dealership, will dedicate a quarter of its fleet at the branch to GM FlexFuel models that will be filled at the new pumps.

“There’s no telling where this might lead,” said Larry Burns, GM vice president of Research & Develop and Strategic Planning. “We have to keep looking for ways to improve the overall ownership experience of our customers. This signals that GM and our dealers are trying hard to give our customers choices. Down the road, we may even want to consider hydrogen dispensers at dealerships.”