The 2009 HUMMER H2 will be the first HUMMER to utilize GM’s E85 FlexPower, with the H3 following later in 2009. The new H2 will be able to run on E85 ethanol, standard gasoline, or any combination of the two fuels. E85 is a cleaner-burning, higher-octane fuel that can help reduce dependency on oil, but may not necessarily achieve the same fuel economy as regular gas.

The Liberals traded their last election’s dirty jet for an even older gas-guzzling carbon-belching Air Inuit 737 this time, but road-touring the election in a rented car seemed to dictate a green shift of a different kind.

My 2006 election protest at the outrageous gouge the party leaders inflict on tagalong journalists — $9,300 per week plus hotels and taxes — was a rented Hummer complete with beer, er, juice fridge, a fearlessly heavy-footed photographer named Steve and power hookups so we could file stories on the fly.

General Motors Corp expects to give potential buyers financial information about Hummer in the next few weeks while also looking at other asset sales, Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson said on Monday.

GM, which in June hired Citigroup to consider all strategic options for Hummer, has not yet officially put the iconic gas-guzzling brand on the market.

Web site The Car Connection on Tuesday managed to get its digital hands on photos of the what is said to be the production version of the Chevy Volt, the much-ballyhooed plug-in hybrid from General Motors.
Production version of the Chevy Volt from General Motors

The photos were made available on GM’s media Web site unintentionally, a company representative told The Detroit News. They were quickly taken down from GM’s site after The Car Connection posted them.

It’s back to the assembly line for workers at the H2 plant.

But their return comes at a time when AM General announced the plant has laid off 80 employees, and scaled back production from 52 vehicles per day to 25.

Before the day started for employees, many sat down for a morning meeting with AM General leaders who announced the cutbacks and changes at the plant.

Vandals who mess with other people’s cars are scum — bottom-feeders who are beneath contempt. It doesn’t matter what the vehicle being damaged is. Cars are a major purchase, there’s often an emotional connection to them, and most importantly, they generally represent the owner’s primary source of mobility — getting him or her to work, to the store, to pick up the kids, and so on.

General Motors (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) expects to sell its Hummer brand by the end of this year or early in 2009, as it shores up capital to survive a deep industry slump amid record losses, its chief operating officer said.

GM, which has lost $51 billion over the past three years, plans to free up $15 billion in liquidity with cost-cutting, asset sales and new borrowing under a July plan intended to reassure investors that it can ride out of the down turn.

General Motors Corp. (GM) Vice Chairman and product development chief Bob Lutz on Thursday said the company is well-positioned for the future even as it deals with the slowest auto industry in years.

Lutz, speaking to reporters at an event in suburban Chicago to promote GM’s 2009 model lineup, cited the company’s efforts to “reinvent” the automobile, with a focus on fuel-economy and quality, as a key reason for optimism.

The military credits its new crop of hulking armored vehicles with saving hundreds of soldiers’ skins. But these Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) behemoths come with all kinds of problems, as well. They’re too bulky to drive through Iraqi alleyways and Afghan trails. And they’re prone to roll-overs. So the Army and Marines are looking for a next-gen MRAP, that combines the “agility, maneuverability and mobility” of a Humvee, with the protection of the brawny new vehicles.

General Motors announced plans yesterday to install 8,700 solar panels on the roof of its White Marsh transmission plant by spring through a partnership with Beltsville’s SunEdison, North America’s largest provider of solar energy services.

The 300,000-square-foot solar project will be one of the biggest on the East Coast, generating enough electricity to power up to 150 households and reducing the plant’s utility bill along with its reliance on Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.