Chevrolet Fuel Cell Equinox and GMC Yukon Hybrid Vehicles to Transport Hollywood’s Hottest Talent in style
American celebrities are well known for their strong opinions on political and environmental conservation issues. Many are also known for their tendency to buy environment-friendly vehicles to drive their point home. This year, the red-carpet arrivals at the 80th Annual Academy Awards® were transported with advanced technology vehicles from GMC and Chevrolet. This fuel-friendly fleet – larger than any other assembled for a major awards show before, enabled Hollywood’s hottest talent to enjoy stylish and environmentally friendly rides in one of more than 75 vehicles, including the Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell.
This highlighted GM’s major strategic effort to provide “fuel-friendly” vehicles to the entertainment industry and spread the word about GM’s environmentally-conscious cars, trucks and SUVs.
“GM’s longstanding relationship with Hollywood and our strong commitment to bringing advanced technologies to market that will help diversify fuel sources and reduce vehicle emissions makes this the perfect time for GM to drive ‘green’ to the Oscars,” said Dino Bernacchi, GM Director of Marketing Alliances and Branded Entertainment. “Our outreach to showcase GM’s ‘fuel-friendly’ products will be increasingly evident in the entertainment industry in 2008 with presence at awards shows, film festivals and special events, as well as a heightened product placement effort in movies and television.”
GM’s ramped-up efforts to drive Hollywood “green” began with “fuel-friendly” vehicles at the 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards and 39th NAACP Image Awards. Chevrolet is also reaching out to the next generation of tomorrow’s influencers with the first-ever “Chevy Rocks the Future” event. GM already provides the largest “fuel-friendly” product placement fleet to Hollywood producers and directors with nearly 20 different vehicle types.
Later this quarter, Chevrolet will hand over the keys of the Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell vehicles to major entertainment celebrities for everyday use as part of its Project Driveway program – an effort by Chevrolet to move fuel cell technology from the laboratory into consumers’ driveways.
This year’s Oscars will be the first major awards show where a fleet of fuel cell vehicles will provide transportation for celebrities. The Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell electric vehicle is a zero-gas, zero-emissions vehicle that makes no compromises, achieving 0 to 60 mph in 12 seconds, 236-lb.-ft. of instant torque and top speed of about 100 miles per hour. It seats four, sports 32 cubic feet of cargo volume for everybody’s gear, and has a range of approximately 150 miles per fill-up based on the new 2008 EPA adjusted measurement. The Equinox Fuel Cell also features full four-wheel ABS for controlled, confident stopping.
Aside from its dramatically different propulsion system, the Equinox Fuel Cell looks and drives much like a production Chevy Equinox (a small SUV).
