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Hydrogen, Hybrids Highlight General Motors Presentation At 2003 Challenge Bibendum

Policymakers, Environmentalists, GM Executives Discuss Mass-Market Acceptance Of Technologies

Sonoma, Calif. - During a daylong General Motors presentation that features a broad range of current and future GM cars and trucks, state policy leaders, educators and environmentalists will focus on ways to encourage mass-market acceptance of advanced automotive technologies that dramatically reduce emissions and improve efficiency.

GM's participation in the 2003 Challenge Bibendum hosted by Michelin, will provide attendees with an opportunity to drive the current and future advanced technology vehicles. At the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., participants will learn about GM's fuel cell activities, partnerships and other advanced propulsion technologies from Elizabeth A. Lowery, GM vice-president, environment and energy, along with engineers involved in commercializing GM's hybrid and fuel cell technologies.

"We believe the best way to address the environmental and energy issues facing California, our nation and the world is through voluntary, market-based applications of innovative technologies," said Lowery. "Our participation in the 2003 Challenge Bibendum will help GM demonstrate many of the technologies that will help get us there."

GM also will announce that it will co-sponsor, with the U.S. Department of Energy, a new competition series that will challenge engineering students from universities throughout North America to re-engineer a crossover sport utility vehicle to achieve better fuel economy and lower emissions. The competition, "Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility," will launch in the 2004-2005 academic year as a three-year program.

Challenge X will be a unique competition, modeled after the General Motors Global Vehicle Development Process, and will closely model current real-world automotive engineering practices and better equip students with the tools they need to fully realize their improved vehicle designs.

"GM is thrilled to sponsor this next-generation advanced vehicle technology competition and to take engineering students a step beyond what they've achieved before," said Lowery. "Through this competition, students will be learning real-world engineering skills that will make them highly valuable to the automotive community."

Additionally, the presentation emphasizes GM's commitment to the California Fuel Cell Partnership, an organization that demonstrates fuel cell electric vehicles in California through 2007 under day-to-day driving conditions. The Partnership is exploring the path to commercializing fuel cell vehicles by examining such issues as fuel infrastructure requirements, vehicle and fuel safety, market incentives and consumer acceptance.

Fuel cells use an electrochemical reaction that uses hydrogen and oxygen from air to create electricity to move a vehicle.

GM already has invested more than $1 billion in developing fuel cell technology and has set a target where the technology could be commercially viable by 2010.. "We are achieving important milestones toward this goal on a regular basis," said Lowery.

In June, GM'sHydroGen3, a fuel cell prototype based on the GM Opel Zafira minvan, joined a FedEx delivery fleet in Tokyo, Japan, the first commercial test of a fuel cell vehicle in that country. A month earlier in Washington, D.C., GM unveiled a fleet of HydroGen3 vehicles as part of a two-year demonstration project. The HydroGen3 is powered by a 94-kilowatt fuel cell stack and has enough power to reach 100 miles per hour with crisp acceleration.

"Ultimately, fuel cells will help us realize the day when our vehicles and our facilities produce zero emissions, and they will help ensure the long-term health of our business," said Lowery. "

Participants will have the opportunity to test drive the Hy-wire, the world's first driveable fuel cell vehicle with by-wire technology, and the HydroGen3.

And, because educating the future users of fuel cell technology is a priority for GM, it will host a group of middle-school science students at a special Tech Tour for Students on Thursday at Chrissy Field in San Francisco.

However, fuel cells aren't the only stars of the show. Technical experts will be on hand to demonstrate current and near-term efficient, fuel-saving technologies such as gas-electric hybrids, Displacement on Demand, continuously variable transmissions, alternative fuel vehicles, clean diesels and others.

A GM Allison Electric Drive-equipped transit bus, which will take part in the Bibendum competition, is a hybrid diesel that produces far fewer emissions than conventional diesel buses, and can potentially save North American transit operators millions of gallons of fuel each year.

Displacement on Demand allows a vehicle to run on half its cylinders when full power is not needed. When engine loads demand full power, the system shifts seamlessly without any input from the driver and without any compromise in vehicle performance. Displacement on Demand will appear first on the 2005 model year GMC Envoy XL and Envoy XUV; and on the Chevrolet TrailBlazer EXT sport-utility vehicles. By 2008, more than 2 million GM vehicles with V8 and V6 engines will have this feature, which boosts engine efficiency by about 8 percent (based on the Environmental Protection Agency's testing procedure).

"Until we can produce fuel cells in large numbers, technologies such as Displacement on Demand, along with our comprehensive hybrid technology plan, form the bridge that will take us to a hydrogen economy," said Lowery.

GM is offering the broadest gas-electric hybrid propulsion program in the industry, with three different hybrid systems on three vehicle architectures, representing more than a dozen of its most popular models. Included at the 2003 Challenge Bibendum is a static display of a GMC Sierra parallel hybrid truck, which will be offered for sale to fleet commercial customers late this year, along with a compact sport-utility vehicle equipped with a belt alternator starter hybrid system. This system improves efficiency in stop-and-go driving by shutting off the engine at idle mode and enabling early fuel cutoff to the engine during decelerations.

Also showcased is a super low emissions vehicle (SULEV) crossover sport-utility vehicle employing the GM Advanced Hybrid System. This system uses two electric motors to propel the vehicle at low speeds, when the efficiency of gasoline engines is lowest. However, when driving at higher speeds, or when carrying heavy loads, power comes from the proven internal combustion engine.

Additionally, an electric S10 pickup will demonstrate an exciting future technology for hybrids and fuel cell vehicles. The vehicle is equipped with rear wheel hub motors, which provided a 60-percent increase in torque when it was launched in August.

"We believe participants will see how GM is using its history of technology and powertrain leadership to reduce vehicle emissions and improve efficiency," said Lowery. "GM is serious about making hydrogen the ultimate answer to our long-term transportation needs."