Jeep Adds E85 Capability to SUVs

Add Jeep to the growing list of brands offering flexible-fuel vehicles (FFVs). Starting in 2007, all Jeep Commander (2006 model pictured) and Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs with the 4.7-liter V-8 engine option will be capable of running on E85 fuel, a mix of 15 percent gasoline and 85 percent ethanol. To operate on E85, the engine computer controls are adjusted and the fuel system - fuel tank, fuel pump and fuel lines - are altered to resist the corrosive effects of the alcohol fuel. A sensor system is used to determine the exact content of the fuel - E85, gasoline or any mixture of the two - to allow the engine to adjust for greatest operational efficiency.

Other Chrysler Group FFVs for 2007 include the Chrysler Sebring sedan and convertible with the 2.7-liter engine as well as the Dodge Dakota and Dodge Ram pickups and Dodge Durango SUV with the 4.7-liter engine. Fleet customers can buy FFV variants of the Dodge Caravan and Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country minivans equipped with 3.3-liter engines. With this lineup, Chrysler plans to sell over 250,000 FFVs capable of running on E85 in 2007. That number will increase to nearly 500,000 units beginning in the 2008 model year , about one-quarter of the company's U.S. fleet. On the biodiesel front, the company will being testing B20 (20 percent biodiesel) in its Dodge Ram heavy duty diesel pickup trucks this fall. The Jeep Liberty CRD diesel SUV already leaves the production line pre-filled with B5 (5 percent biodiesel) fuel.