Environmental Stewardship

General Motors thinks there's a future for hydrogen fuel cells, but it's not in your driveway.

Unless you're a member of the armed forces and your driveway is, say, Fort Bliss.

The Detroit automaker is and the U.S. Army are collaborating on a modular experimental light- and medium-duty fuel-cell truck platform with a name so military that it could have come from a Tom Clancy book: Silent Utility Rover Universal Superstructure, or SURUS.

Chevrolet’s fully revised 2016 Volt is the best green car for a family according to a recent assessment of all cars out there.

The results of a joint effort between Parents Magazine and Edmunds.com, the’ 10 “Best Family Cars of 2016″ list appears in the July issue of Parents Magazine.

The “extended-range electric” Volt is a compact-class car that’s unique in offering the highest range of pure electric driving, and surpasses all competitive plug-in hybrids by nearly twice the range or better.

Ford recently announced that as part of the mid-cycle update for its Fusion sedan, the plug-in hybrid variant would be getting a notable improvement in fuel efficiency. In fact, the EPA fuel economy estimates for the Fusion Energi have gone up by 10 percent bringing all-electric driving range to 22 miles and the gasoline hybrid rating to 42 mpg combined. Surprisingly the engineers did this by massaging everything but the lithium ion battery which remains unchanged at a capacity of 7.6-kWh.

The FCA US Belvidere Assembly Plant (Ill.) wants to make caring for the environment “cool.”  

Eleven General Motors facilities have earned ENERGY STAR® certification for superior energy efficiency from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These buildings, which include seven parts distribution centers, a global headquarters office and three IT innovation office centers, have optimized their buildings to leave a smaller carbon footprint.

To earn ENERGY STAR certification, buildings must perform better in energy efficiency than 75 percent of similar buildings nationwide and meet strict energy efficiency performance levels set by the EPA.

General Motors plans to donate land near its plant on Philadelphia Road to the White Marsh Volunteer Fire Co. for future development as a fire station and community building.

General Motors Baltimore Operations, which produces transmissions and electric motors in White Marsh, will donate more than six acres near its plant, where a nearly 20,000-square-foot, single-story fire house and community building will be constructed.

General Motors Co said on Thursday it is reorganizing certain vehicle engineering operations to speed efforts to develop autonomous and electrified vehicles.

Doug Parks, GM's vice president for global product programs, will become vice president for autonomous technology and vehicle execution, reporting to Mark Reuss, head of global product development. Parks will oversee efforts to develop new electrical and battery systems and software for autonomous and electric vehicles, GM said in a statement. The appointments are effective Feb. 1.

Ford Motor Company and Jay Leno, renowned auto enthusiast and star of Jay Leno’s Garage, are teaming up to auction the TV legend’s personal one-of-one 2000 Harley-Davidson F-150 at the 45th Anniversary Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction at WestWorld of Scottsdale.

All proceeds will benefit National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the country’s leading organization helping people affected by multiple sclerosis through cutting-edge research, advocacy and education. Live TV coverage of the auction of this custom F-150 will air on Velocity on Jan. 29.

The FCA US Belvidere (Ill.) Assembly Plant’s new body shop has been awarded a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Green Building System certification for meeting the highest environmental standards.