General Motors and Amoco announce joint clean diesel engine/fuel development program

4 February 1998

General Motors and Amoco announced a joint development program to prepare the way for the next generation of clean, high mileage vehicles. This marks the first alliance between an automaker and fuel company to collaborate on the co-development of next-generation engines and fuels.

"While GM readies diesel/electric hybrid cars for production viability in 2001, Amoco has agreed to pioneer clean-burning diesel fuels," said Harry Pearce, GM vice chairman. "These fuels will contribute to minimizing emissions from advanced vehicle powertrains. The diesel engine is the most promising near-term solution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions because it has very high inherent energy efficiency. "We recognize the need for a partnership between the automotive and petroleum industries," Pearce added. "This is a great start and positions both of our companies to remain leaders in serving our customers and preserving the environment."

Amoco will join GM in its efforts to develop an advanced diesel combustion engine/fuel system with substantial improvements in fuel economy. Currently, diesel-fueled engines have promising fuel economy and vehicle range capability. The challenge has been meeting low nitrogen oxides and particulate emissions levels to meet clean air standards. This work will help achieve future low emissions and energy efficiency goals.

"Our joint technical efforts will be directed at developing production-ready diesel vehicles that, when combined with cleaner fuels, produce emissions levels comparable to advanced technology spark ignition engines," Pearce said.

"Amoco is pleased to join GM in a partnership to advance fuel and engine technology while continuing to meet our mutual customers' demand for high performance," said Bill Lowrie, president, Amoco Corporation. "Amoco's premium diesel and Crystal Clear Ultimate gasoline are examples of our commitment to quality and our heritage of innovation. We intend to build on this heritage in developing fuels for the 21st century that can be delivered to consumers at reasonable costs."

Last month, GM announced a production-ready hybrid electric vehicle by 2001 and fuel cell electric vehicle by 2004, or sooner. The automaker also unveiled a family of advanced technology vehicles including:

• EVl and S-10 Electric truck with double-range nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) batteries;
• Series Hybrid using an electric motor charged by the world's most efficient gas-turbine generator system;
• Parallel Hybrid, an environmentally conscious performance car, powered by an electric motor and direct injection turbo diesel;
• Fuel Cell vehicle that runs on electrical energy created from a hydrogen-oxygen chemical reaction;
• Compressed Natural Gas vehicle.

Source: General Motors Corporation