E85 Stations for Cars
March 6th, 2009 at 03:47pm Under Main Content
As of December 31, 2008, there were about 1921 public E85 fueling stations available in the United States . Prices vary by location, some prices over 30% less than regular gasoline. Since 2007, such vehicles frequently have a yellow gas cap or a flexible fuel logo attached to the rear. This means that your car won’t go as far on a gallon of E85, and your fuel economy will decrease by 20-30 percent. This is bad news for consumers because even if the price of E85 at the pump is cheaper than gasoline, using ethanol may not be less expensive in the end.
E85 is an alternative transportation fuel made from a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline that can be used in FFVs. Only about 500 of the more than 180,000 fuel stations in the U.S. In the garage at Pearson Kia, service technician Corey Gonzales put the Tahoe on a lift, disconnected the fuel hose and siphoned the gas out. As the tank got low and the siphon slowed to a trickle, Gonzales tilted the Tahoe to drain even more gas out of the tank, leaving just enough fuel to drive to the E85 pumps a hundred yards away. But a gallon of ethanol has only about two-thirds as much energy as a gallon of gasoline, so your fuel economy will drop. How much depends on a lot of things, but the EPA’s fuel-economy figures provide a good estimate.
The feds were sold a sham on corn ethanol being the answer to our fuel problems in the U.S. Sounded good, looked good on paper and with the government backing this program (with kickback money), no way this could fail, or so they thought. E85 is also a cleaner burning fuel and a viable tool in America’s efforts to wean itself off of foreign oil dependence. As part of the grand opening of the Classic Clean Fuels station, car maker General Motors took part in the opening. The company had sponsored a promotion that lasted for two hours - it started from 7 o’clock in the morning and ended at 9 o’clock.
E85 Flex Fuel vehicles (gas or ethanol) adds ZERO to the sticker price. It cost the Auto Industry less than $150 to make any vehicle coming off the line capable of running on e85. At that spread that’s a ~23% difference in price, with only a ~15% difference in fuel economy. Not exactly fantastic, but certainly not a total wash. In fact, we discovered during this project renewable fuel performs much better than today’s gasoline. My name is Karl Jacob and I knew I loved cars at the tender age of 5.
Calvert proposed an E85 highway, as part of the province’s green plan, aimed to require all cars and light trucks built after 2011 to meet new fuel-efficiency standards, which have not yet been set. Calvert suggested that provinces could first test the benefits of E85 pumps on part of the country and then expand into other areas. As the industry shifted towards green vehicles, technologies and processes, alternative fuels emerged as a sustainable solution to Canada’s petroleum needs. Ethanol reduces GHG emissions by two-thirds versus conventional gasoline. A water separator and Sta-Bil along with a properly maintained engine/fuel system will solve your issue. Sealed fuel systems on modern cars also make it hard for the ethanol to absorb any condensation.
Tags: Alternative Transportation, Burning Fuel, Car Maker, Corn Ethanol, Ffvs, Flex Fuel Vehicles, Flexible Fuel, Foreign Oil Dependence, Fuel Economy, Fuel Hose, Fuel Problems, Fuel Stations, Gas Cap, Kia Service, O Clock, Service Technician, Station Car, Sticker Price, Transportation Fuel, Viable Tool
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