Tag: e85

Can e85 be mixed with regular gasoline?

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Can e85 be mixed with regular gasoline?

This question is asked very often. Since e85 is already a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, it is just fine to mix the two fuels.

Let’s say that you fill up with e85 before a trip then continue to your destination. When you are ready to leave, you notice there are no e85 stations around. You have less then half a tank left of e85, and you need to fill up. Filling up your tank with regular gas is just fine for your flex fuel vehicle.

Filling up will regular gas will only dilute the e85 ethanol from the original fill up. With a rough calculation, if you have half a tank of e85 and fill up with regular gas, you will have approximately 40 percent ethanol and 60 percent gasoline in your tank.

If your vehicle is a flex fuel vehicle, it will be able to take any combination of e85 and gasoline.

Converting to ethanol in Australia

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Much like in America, ethanol is also booming down under in Australia. According to Tony Kelly, the New South Wales Minister for Regional Development, service stations have been converting vehicles and gas stations as fast as they could.

The only problem is that the employees that complete the ethanol conversions are falling behind due to the very high demand.

The Australian Government has been giving many companies resources to convert their infrastructure from petroleum to ethanol however the resources are set to expire in October of 2007.

The New South Wales Government is asking the Commonwealth to extend the ethanol distribution program for another four years, well past the deadline of October.

Last year, Australia announced plans to provide resources to fuel stations to upgrade their fuel tanks in order for the tanks to carry ethanol along with gasoline.

Originally, the ethanol distribution program was to run for only one year. Tony Kelly says the twelve month time frame is far from enough to upgrade. With public interest and awareness at its peak, now is not the time for pulling the plug on the bio-fuel industry.

Follow this link for more information on converting to ethanol.

e85 gains strength as gas prices soar

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Most consumers will know E85 is a blend of gas and ethanol. It consists of 15 percent gasoline and 85 percent ethanol, hence the name, e85. Today, most of the ethanol used in the United States is produced by America’s corn farmers. How many automobiles on the roads can use E85? Perhaps the number is more than you may think.

Eric Escudero a spokesperson of Colorado’s AAA, “6 million vehicles on the road are flex fuel vehicles. Especially General Motors and Ford manufactured vehicles.” GM estimates that they have approximately 2 million flex fuel vehicles driving on U.S. roads and there are another 4 million flex fuel cars on the roads by other manufacturers.

“All you have to do is check on the gas cap on the owners manual, you might have the option of using E85,” Escudero proclaims. Ethanol has less energy than pure gasoline. Because of this, there is about a 10-15 percent drop in fuel economy of the vehicle. AAA says that the percentage may be even higher. “It’s about 30 percent less efficient, so you’re not getting as good gas mileage.” If the price of ethanol is lower it absolutely makes sense.

The American ethanol industry is expected to produce about 6 billion gallons of E85 fuel, this year. Currently, American consumers use almost 390 million gallons every single day. Ethanol, however, is still just a small drop in the barrel of oil. As gas prices go through the ceiling and more ethanol is produced, it has the chance to become more popular.

Follow this link for this year’s list of flex-fuel cars