2009 Chevy HHR Gets First E85 Four-Cylinder

This morning at the Chicago Auto Show, GM announced that the 2009 edition of the Chevy HHR will feature a four-cylinder E85 engine standard, making it the first four-cylinder that can run on the renewable fuel.

There will be two versions of the engine: a 2.2-liter and a 2.4-liter four-cylinder, both of which will be E85-capable flex-fuel engines, meaning they can run on regular gas or ethanol-derived E85. The 2009 HHRs will go on sale later this year.

Mileage estimates weren’t released, but other Chevy flex-fuel engines deliver roughly 25% worse fuel economy when running on E85 than when running on regular gasoline. The current HHR gets 22/30 mpg city/highway and 20/28 mpg for the 2.2-liter and 2.4-liter engines, respectively, on regular gasoline. A 25% drop would knock those city numbers well into the teens.