e85 fuel hits my home town

[coffeeman]

We have a local chain of gas & grocery stores. They have at least 100 locations. Today they offered e85 for $2.57. The, all gas, gas was at $2.77. Guess what? If I had a car that would run that e85 I would be the first in line.

Cheers.....Coffeeman

 

[gordon21]

E-85 was cheaper??? That seems to be the opposite of what I have heard would happen. Do you have any local or state tax breaks involved? My new pickup can use E-85 but I have never boiught any because there isn't any available for 100 miles around that I know of.

 

[oliver28472]

Gordon,
There's one in Shelby. My gov Taurus can use e85. Some vehicles run better on it than others. My mileage drops 7 mpg on e85. The reason it's cheaper that regular gas is because it is subsidized.

 

[coffeeman]

E-85 was cheaper??? That seems to be the opposite of what I have heard would happen. Do you have any local or state tax breaks involved? My new pickup can use E-85 but I have never boiught any because there isn't any available for 100 miles around that I know of.

Yes...it was cheaper. I wonder how long it might take some enterprising company to build it's own plant to make this stuff. If they have the stations but don't produce the regular gas, e85 might be a good profit maker for them. My city only had one e85 station till now. That first e85 pump was for government vehicles only. What a marketing tool if you are the only guys in town to have this stuff for public. That might be why many places offer it above gasoline price, there's not much of it.

Cheers....Coffeeman

 

[JEP]

Gordon,
There's one in Shelby. My gov Taurus can use e85. Some vehicles run better on it than others. My mileage drops 7 mpg on e85. The reason it's cheaper that regular gas is because it is subsidized.

I read an article about the E85 fuel. It mentioned that vehicles running on E85 got about 25% less mpg. You have to factor this into the price per gallon compared to regular gasoline.

 

[5030]

We have a local chain of gas & grocery stores. They have at least 100 locations. Today they offered e85 for $2.57. The, all gas, gas was at $2.77. Guess what? If I had a car that would run that e85 I would be the first in line.

Cheers.....Coffeeman

That's exactly what's going to happen when Joe public sees the price on the pump and puts in their non-flex fuel vehicle. Going to be some really unhappy people with big repair bills and the people who are going to use it without the correct fuel system are the people who are cash strapped. Personally, I feel E85 is a mistake without some deterrent to introducing it into non compatable fuel systems. The gummit is putting the cart before the horse as usual. .....and the poor people are going to pay the price for their ignorance.

 

[Z71]

The reason it's cheaper that regular gas is because it is subsidized.

Must be a way to home brew?

You would not believe how many think that any car can burn this. I meet them everyday and when you tell them you need the right system, they say you are full of BS. All you need is a $100 conversion kit, where do these BS stories come from? The Internet?

A friend wants a new GM truck with E85 real bad, called 4 dealers and only found 1 GMC loaded to the hilt with options which he does not want. Going to have order, no E85 around here now but Wal-Mart is rumored to have it by winter.

 

[Hard]

I was in Hopkinsville, KY last week and e85 was selling for $2.26 to $2.28 per gallon. Regular gasoline was selling for $2.70 to $2.98. Is it true that MPG will be less when using e85?

 

[beagdog]

I was in Hopkinsville, KY last week and e85 was selling for $2.26 to $2.28 per gallon. Regular gasoline was selling for $2.70 to $2.98. Is it true that MPG will be less when using e85?

Yes it is true. I have a 2006 Dodge Caravan work van that when using E85 loses about 40% (Around 23 on regular unleaded and about 14 on E85). Doesn't run as well either.

I think the new E85 capable Ford F-150's have added a special sticker on the window explaining the decreased fuel economy of E85.

 

[LC Brewing]

E85 processing plants are popping up all over the country. The company I work for will be building one here in the northwest (broke ground last week). Vehicles that will burn them are also becoming more common, but will take a long time to become the "norm." The fuel has a higher octane rating, but poorer efficiency than true gasoline. So expect a hit in MPG (though I haven't heard as high as 25% before), but slightly increased power. The price per gallon should be interesting to see as it becomes more common. It is a subsidized agricultural product, thereby reducing the price, but it will be something that the oil companies and the gas stations will have a lot of power to manipulate I'm sure. And expect the big oil companies to fight it too - I've even heard one quoted as opposing E85 because "it is unethical to use a food source for fuel with so many hungry people in the world." Yeah, uh-huh, sure...that's why you oppose it.

As far as "home brewing" it, you certainly can. The goverment has a free permit you can get to allow you to operate a still for the purpose of home fuel production, but it makes you vulnerable to random search to ensure you are following the rules. By the way, operating a still without a permit (and getting caught) is a big "no-no". As far as making it, there is little to it - you ferment any sugar containing crop (corn being the common one to be used here in the States - Brazil has been using sugar cane for theirs for years), then distill it to reduce it down to pure ethanol (takes several passes through rudimentary stills), and then cut it witn 15% gasoline to produce the E85.