Now GM adds some muscle!
Cultivating new fuel: Auto dealer's pump shows one way to change gas habits
Sharon Terlep / The Detroit News
Charles Martin has no problem selling Chevrolet pickups and Hummer SUVs to truck-loving Texans. But despite a steady flow of customers, a frustrating reality nagged the Dallas-area auto dealer: Even though many of the trucks Martin sells can burn corn-based E-85 ethanol instead of gasoline, his customers found it almost impossible to find E-85 pumps around town.
Fed up, Martin opened a little gas station of his own at his dealership; it provides ethanol, along with biodiesel and gasoline.
Customers flocked to Classic Chevrolet/Hummer on the station's opening day, thanks in part to a promotion sponsored by ethanol-booster General Motors Corp. And within a few days, nearly three dozen dealers from around the country called or flew in to check out his operation.
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"I just get sick and tired of oil prices and the oil business," Martin said, from his dealership in Grapevine, Texas, 20 miles outside of Dallas. "Once it got to the point where people were interested, this was definitely an opportunity to provide something for our customers."
It's the type of nontraditional approach that GM and others think has the potential to transform the way millions of Americans gas up, be it with ethanol or hydrogen or an electric plug.
One of the automaker's top executives in charge of infrastructure issues says the gas station of the future may very well resemble the one in Dallas -- independently owned with a variety of fuels.
"We need to accelerate the rate at which these fuels are available, and if you look at real estate in a different way, the possibilities are limitless," said Mary Beth Stanek, GM's director of environment and energy. The Detroit automaker, like other manufacturers, is building more so-called FlexFuel vehicles that can take both E-85 ethanol and gasoline.
Stanek sees a future not only with gas stations, but with stores that give themselves titles such as "energy hub" or "green retailer." Consumers would go there to plug in, fuel up or recharge.
"It takes a retailer time to get interested and time to learn," she said. "You have to want to do this -- it's not something just anyone can do."
Ethanol as an alternative to petroleum is still a controversial issue. Fewer than 1 percent of filling stations nationwide offer E-85 fuel.
While the fuel gets green billing, many argue that corn-based E-85 is less efficient than gasoline and consumes more energy than it saves because of the work in farming the corn and transporting the fuel via truck or train.
"The reason why you haven't seen a greater number of E-85 pumps is that customers aren't knocking our doors down to get it," said Mark Griffin, president of the Michigan Petroleum Association.
Other gasoline alternatives have detractors too. Critics of hydrogen fuel cells say a viable infrastructure will never happen. Cynics of the electric car doubt the auto industry will ever develop a battery strong and durable enough to replace the gas engine.
But few disagree that Americans are perturbed with the uncertainty of see-sawing fuel prices that have leapt nearly 50 percent in the last three years.
"People are frustrated and they're getting angry with the oil companies and they're frustrated that there's no real viable alternative," Jason Toews, cofounder of GasBuddy.com, a network of more than 179 gas price information Web sites that helps consumers locate low gasoline.
He said people aren't likely to go far out of their way to find an ethanol pump. But the idea may have appeal to a select group.
Martin said his station has seen a steady stream of customers since opening last month. GM helped by sponsoring a day of 85.9-cents-per gallon fill-ups at the station. Classic is the nation's largest Chevy dealer and is located in a metropolitan region with more than 5 million people.
GM, working to cultivate a green image, is doing all it can to promote its ethanol offerings. The automaker says it has more than 3 million flex-fuel vehicles on the road in the United States, and plans to make half its portfolio E85-compatible by 2012.
The dealership spent about $500,000 to install nine pumps that dispense E-85, biodiesel and gasoline with up to 10 percent ethanol, the type of fuel sold at most gas stations. Gasoline so far is outselling ethanol by about two to one, Martin said.
Fellow dealer Marc Heitz, owner of Marc Heitz Chevrolet in Norman, Okla., liked what he saw at Classic after a visit to the dealership last month. Heitz figures he could do even more business because his store is located on a main thoroughfare through town.
"We're already selling these cars, we should provide consumers a way to get the fuel," he said. There's nowhere nearby for consumers to get ethanol, he said. "It's a pretty incredible opportunity for us."
