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Detroit Home to Michigan's First Public Ethanol Station

7 November 1997

Detroit Home to Michigan's First Public Ethanol Station

    DETROIT, Nov. 7 -- The Corn Marketing Program of Michigan and
Ford Motor Company are taking a step forward to make E85 fuel more
available to the public.  Michigan's first public E85 (85 percent ethanol)
fueling facility, which is located in Detroit, is opening today.  The station
helps remove a major roadblock to high volume sales of flexible fuel vehicles
(FFVs) and large scale use of E85 -- lack of fueling infrastructure.
    The first E85 station in Michigan is one of hundreds of such stations that
are expected to open across the country to support flexible fuel vehicles
(FFVs).  Presently, there are forty public E85 stations already in operation
around the country.
    "The use of E85 as an alternative fuel is a positive choice for the city
of Detroit and the state of Michigan," said Keith Muxlow, Executive Director
of the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan.  "Because ethanol is made from corn
and other U.S. feedstocks, it is a renewable resource.  Also, it boosts
domestic agriculture and reduces American dependence on foreign oil supplies."
    Benefits like these prompted Ford earlier this year to announce future
production of more than 250,000 flexible fuel vehicles.  FFVs can run on E85,
unleaded gasoline, or any combination of the two.  Ford plans to begin
high-volume production of FFVs in the 1999 model year and will bring more FFV
products to market each year as the number of E85 service stations increases.
    "We announced this four-year program to encourage the development and
expansion of the ethanol infrastructure," said Mike McCabe, Ford's Alternative
Fuel Vehicle Marketing Manager.  "As this new station demonstrates, by
announcing our product strategy early and phasing in our FFV introductions, we
can help encourage the expansion of the infrastructure.  The winning
combination is having the vehicles and the fuel in the marketplace at the same
time."
    Starting in Fall 1998, Ford will equip all 3.0-liter V6 Ford Rangers with
flexible fuel systems.  The Ranger compact pickup will join the FFV versions
of the popular Taurus sedan.  The company will offer other high-volume FFV car
and truck lines, including Windstar, in later years.
    The Ford Taurus FFV was introduced in 1992 and targeted at fleet
customers.  In the 1997 model year, Ford sold 6,346 FFV Tauruses (combined
methanol/ethanol).  Since enactment of the Clean Air Act of 1990, Ford has
sold more than half of the total FFVs sold by the entire industry.
    Ford is the leader in alternative fuel vehicles with more than 95 percent
of the market.  In addition to ethanol, Ford offers alternative fuel vehicles
powered by natural gas, propane, electricity and methanol.  In the 1998 model
year lineup, Ford will offer an industry record number of alternative fuel
vehicles.  These alternative fuel vehicles will be sold throughout the United
States and are evidence of Ford's commitment to help improve air quality.
    The Corn Marketing Program of Michigan expects to announce the opening of
additional public E85 fueling stations in the state of Michigan in the next
several weeks.

SOURCE  Ford Motor Company