America’s automotive companies today announced plans to double annual production of vehicles capable of running on renewable fuels to two million cars and trucks by 2010.

The production increase by DaimlerChrysler, Ford and General Motors represents the single largest commitment to renewable fuels in the nation’s history.

The pledge toward more flex fuel vehicles that can use E85 ethanol or biodiesel came in a letter to all Members of Congress from Chrysler Group President and CEO, Tom LaSorda, Ford Motor Company Chairman and CEO, Bill Ford and General Motors Chairman and CEO, Rick Wagoner.

The letter reaffirms the CEOs message they delivered to Congressional leadership in May that renewable fuels can play an important role toward achieving energy security by reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

Today, there are more than 5 million flex fuel vehicles on the road and the three domestic automotive companies will add an additional million cars and trucks this year alone. If all of these vehicles were running on E85, they would displace more than 3.5 billion gallons of gasoline a year, an amount comparable to the yearly gas consumption in a state such as Missouri or Tennessee

The CEOs noted that, "vehicles alone will not get the job done. To capitalize on this commitment, Congress and the Administration need to continue to promote the production of biofuels, increase incentives for refueling infrastructure, and continue incentives for automakers to produce biofuel vehicles."

" Eventually, we need to get to the point where most Americans have reasonable access to these fuels at a price that is competitive with gasoline," they said. "Without this alternative fuel infrastructure, the U.S. could miss the opportunity to displace gasoline with homegrown and produced biofuels." Currently, there are only about 700 E85 pumps among the nation’s 170,000 gas stations.