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| Click to enlarge |  | | 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche. Photo: Bruce Whitaker | | | Click to enlarge |  | | 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche FFV. Photo: Bruce Whitaker | | | advertisement | | | | Click to enlarge |  | | No. 85 NCTS Chevy Silverado. Photo: Bruce Whitaker | |
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Based on General Motors' new full-size SUV platform and incorporating the styling of the new Chevrolet Tahoe, the 2007 Chevy Avalanche continues to offer consumers a unique level of flexibility. In keeping with a flexibility theme during its press conference in Chicago, GM chose to focus on its flexible-fuel vehicles (FFV) via the 2007 Avalanche, which happens to have optional engines that allow it to run on E85 fuel.
Chevrolet Avalanche Photo Gallery
Containing a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, the E85 most commonly used in the U.S. contains ethanol produced from corn. To underscore this fact, a 2007 flexible-fuel Avalanche—with a yellow, green and black paint scheme and corn graphics—was a centerpiece of the Avalanche unveiling.
The Avalanche utility vehicle combines passenger attributes of an SUV with the cargo capability of a pickup. The truck continues to be defined by the Midgate that debuted on the first-generation Avalanche, which opens to extend the cargo bed into the rear of the passenger compartment.
With the Midgate closed, Avalanche has a 5.3-foot cargo bed. But with the Midgate opened and the rear seat folded, the cargo bed increases to 8.2-feet—2 inches longer than the original Avalanche bed. The truck is now capable of carrying 4-foot by 8-foot sheet of plywood with the tailgate closed.
In addition to new styling, the 2007 Avalanche incorporates customer-requested features to increase functionality, including central locking for the tailgate by either the interior lock switches or the Remote Keyless Entry key fob; remote vehicle starting, and cargo cover retaining straps to secure the cargo covers when removed from the storage compartments. The 2007 Avalanche will be on sale in the second quarter of 2006.
In collaboration with Shell Oil Products US and VeraSun Energy, General Motors announced that 26 additional E85 refueling pumps will be added to Chicago-area stations as part of a broader national campaign to raise awareness and use of ethanol-based E85 fuel in the U.S. There are more than six million flexible-fuel vehicles on the road today, but many drivers are unaware that they are able to use E85 as an alternative to gasoline.
GM's "Live Green Go Yellow" marketing and advertising campaign will include the No. 85 Chevy Silverado for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS), to be driven by Dennis Setzer with a brand-new paint scheme that was unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show. GM will also be the title sponsor of the GM FlexFuel 250, the NCTS race to be held on February 17 at Daytona International Speedway.
GM currently sells nine vehicles in the U.S. that are equipped to run on E85, and there are more than 1.5 million E85-capable GM vehicles on the road today. GM plans to add an additional 2 million by the year 2010, including 400,000 in 2006.
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