St. Louis, Mo. (October 10, 2006) (AgNewsWire)
There’s a new breed of Dodge Rams tackling the nation’s environmental and energy challenges, and they’re running on biodiesel.
Representatives from DaimlerChrysler hit the streets of St. Louis today in the new 2007 Dodge Ram Heavy Duty Diesel Pickup to tout the benefits of clean, renewable biodiesel for America’s transportation system, the economy and the environment. Chrysler Group announced that every 2007 Dodge Ram diesel coming off the assembly line at the company’s Fenton, Missouri north plant will be fueled with B5, a blend containing 5 percent biodiesel made from soybeans grown in the U.S.
The Dodge Ram’s B5 factory fueling builds on a similar program implemented first with the company’s Jeep® Liberty CRD and continued with the recently announced 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD.
According to Reginald Modlin, Director of Environmental Affairs for Daimler Chrysler, delivering their diesel vehicles fueled with biodiesel is a first step in educating customers about the advantages of the fuel.
“We want to have our diesel products seen as environmentally-responsible products, which they are,” said Modlin. “We have also seen the public taking a great interest in renewable fuels, so we see a great opportunity here for manufacturers to get the word out that biofuels help reduce greenhouse gases and emissions over all. In addition, the natural lubricity of biodiesel actually helps us with engine maintenance. So, it’s an all around win for our customers.”
The Dodge Ram Heavy Duty 2500/3500 series diesel pickup trucks are powered by the 5.9-liter Cummins turbo-diesel engine. Beginning in January 2007, the vehicles will be built with the new Cummins 6.7-liter turbo-diesel engine and will meet all Federal and state environmental standards.
“What Chrysler is doing is advocating biodiesel blends in this advanced diesel technology,”said Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board, the industry’s nonprofit trade association. “They were the first to promote the use of B20 for fleets in the Dodge Ram. They are really leading the way in terms of promoting energy conservation and renewable energy.”
Additional information about biodiesel is available online at www.biodiesel.org.
Additional information and news from DaimlerChrysler is available online at www.daimlerchrysler.com.
This material sponsored by the USDA Biodiesel Education Program.