U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Biomass Program

Hybrid Flex-Fuel Vehicle Video

August 28, 2007

Hi. I'm Jacques Beaudry-Losique, and I manage the Biomass Program here at the U.S. Department of Energy.  Our goal is to bring clean, renewable, domestic biofuels from the field to your gas tank.

Two great innovations—hybrid-electric and flex fuel technologies—have come together in one vehicle, which represents a technological breakthrough.

Why is this so special?  Hybrid vehicles you see on the road today mostly run on gasoline, but they use an electric motor to improve fuel economy. 

This hybrid fuel vehicle has an added benefit.  In place of gasoline, it can run on a fuel blend that's made mostly from a domestic renewable resource—it's 85% ethanol. By combining flex fuel with a hybrid engine, you can use a clean, renewable fuel and get more miles per gallon at the same time.

The combination of biofuels and innovative vehicle technologies will help further the President's goal of replacing 20% of our gasoline consumption by 2017.

Putting these innovative vehicles into day-to-day operations here at the Department of Energy will give the manufacturer useful feedback before they go into mass production.

At DOE, we are helping develop clean, domestic energy that will benefit the nation and improve our daily lives at the same time.