QUOTE
Fuel economy calculation for alternative fuel vehicles multiplies the actual fuel used by a "Fuel Content" Factor of 0.15[15] as an incentive to develop alternative fuel vehicles.[16] Dual-fuel vehicles, such as E85 capable models, are taken as the average of this alternative fuel rating and its gasoline rate. Thus a 15 mpg dual-fuel E85 capable vehicle would be rated as 40 mpg for CAFE purposes, in spite of the fact that less than one percent of the fuel used in E85 capable vehicles is actually E85.
All GM needs to do is make every Zeta engine FlexFuel. Forget hybrid, forget hydrogen, forget fairy dust. It would cost an extra $100 per car to make them FlexFuel. CERTAINLY cheaper than spending a huge amount of money to fund development of the platform only to throw it in the dustbin. The idea that GM cannot make the ZETA up to CAFE standards is complete and utter BS beyond any shadow of any doubt. To those of you who celebrate the Zeta demise, you are shortsighted, unimaginative, and are clearly a danger to General Motors. Furthermore... unless GM is planning on having Zeta around for a W-body like amount of time, there would be two to three revisions of the platform completed by the time the 35mpg AVERAGE comes into effect. Do you think Ford was pumping out FlexFuel Tauruses and Sables in 1999 out out of the kindness of their dear sweet hearts? No, it was to raise their CAFE on the cheap.
^^^^ Can they really do this? If so that would be great... So those idots can do a RWD Impala, with the size and performance of the Malibu I have no problem with the Impala being RWD. Having said that GM should not put all there eggs in ONE basket.!^^^^