Ethanol blends: 10% in "reg." gasoline, 5% in mid-grade, 0% in premium (in Ontario)

[Old Mechanic]

Its been 10% here for years for all grades.

The last time I actually bought a tank of mid grade without ethanol my mileage went up 10%.

It would be nice to see a direct comparison of the mileage of the 3 grades available with 0-5-10% ethanol content.

My single example is not enough for any definitive claim of improvement in non ethanol fuel, but it would seem like the much lower energy content of ethanol would have a significant negative effect.

EPA for a Nissan Titan was 13 on gas and 9 on E85. That follows the btu energy content of the two fuels fairly closely.

I would like to do a comparison in one of my cars but the closest no ethanol gas is in DC (I think) and I am not driving 180 miles to that cesspool for a tank of gas.

regards
Mech

[tasdrouille]

Darin,

I just did a bit of research and this is a Federal law.

Bill C-33 passed June 26th 2008 "allow the federal government to implement regulations requiring 5% average renewable content in gasoline by 2010."

I guess I will start writing to gasoline retailers in Quebec to see where their grades stand at the moment.

[Old Tele man]

...in Arizona, it's "...up to 10% alcohol..." but I understand it's currently only about 5-5.5%.

[tasdrouille]

I got the following response from Shell.

At present there is no renewable content in Shell gasolines in the province of Quebec.

[Duffman]

Originally Posted by tasdrouille

Darin,

I just did a bit of research and this is a Federal law.

Bill C-33 passed June 26th 2008 "allow the federal government to implement regulations requiring 5% average renewable content in gasoline by 2010."

I guess I will start writing to gasoline retailers in Quebec to see where their grades stand at the moment.

Your post is factually correct but the key here is average. Renewable content will be comming to diesel as well, but we will see a higher % in the summer than the winter due to gelling issues.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Duffman

Your post is factually correct but the key here is average.

Yes, I've read an article about that: fuel retailers can add ethanol in whichever market(s) they like, as long as their average is 5%. So for example, they may blend more ethanol in places that are closer to supplies, and none where it's not readily available.

And, as we're also seeing: ethanol in regular & mid-grade fuels, none in premium.

----

FYI, Canadian Tire Petroleum says:

Thank you for your recent e-mail.

Please be advised that there is no ethanol in our premium fuel.

[Allch Chcar]

Crud I almost extended this discussion.

If you're willing to pennypinch this much that you will take premium unleaded over G90/E10 Regular I think you should consider this carefully. I don't know the year of your Flea but if you believe that the poor mileage is due to your vehicle's incompatibility with ethanol than you probably know by now you need to run (Premium) 100% Gasoline. The common phrase parroted is that Post 96 vehicles can "tolerate" ethanol upto 10%, but they're not designed for ethanol use. E85 flexfuel vehicles are not designed for 85% Ethanol vs E98(the highest blend) they're Gasoline cars designed to run good on everyday G90/E10 and run exactly the same on E85 but with less mileage. The vehicles designed to tolerate Ethanol fuel are almost all made after 2001 and most definitely not Imports until much later than that. It was just a couple years ago Lexus/Toyota and VW had a recall for Ethanol incompatibility. Ford on the other hand has been using ethanol friendly components since at least '94. That's just an example. When Ethanol was introduced in the 70's-80's there were problems on many cars.

The social benefits of Ethanol have been proven, but have not been the popular opinion. Ethanol is more expensive here on an energy basis when Gasoline is less than $3 a gallon but I'm willing to pay that higher price based on the social benefits, it shouldn't be a requirement mandated by law. If they can't make you pledge allegiance to your Country's flag and they can't make you acknowledge God in schools then they shouldn't make you support a fuel that you believe is morally wrong. That's my opinion, and I'm also of the opinion that if you educate yourself of it's merits, facts, traits, and look at upto date and accurate not just "unbiased" information you'll at least see why I support Ethanol as a fuel. /End Ranting. I tried to keep it simple and to the point .

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Allch Chcar

If you're willing to pennypinch this much that you will take premium unleaded over G90/E10 Regular I think you should consider this carefully. I don't know the year of your Flea but if you believe that the poor mileage is due to your vehicle's incompatibility with ethanol than you probably know by now you need to run (Premium) 100% Gasoline.

You're reading too much into this and making assumptions that aren't true.

Nowhere have I said that my car is getting "poor" mileage due to ethanol, nor have I mentioned financial reasons being a motivation for investigating the fuel blends where I live.

[MetroMPG]

But thanks for bumping the thread.

I have since heard back from Petro-Canada / Suncor, and they're doing the same thing as the other companies who have replied:

Thank you for contacting Petro-Canada Customer Service online.

Sorry for the delay in our reply.

At Petro-Canada branded gas stations, not selling Ultra 94, the Premium 91 Octane gasoline does not contain ethanol. This is for stations up to the Muskoka area and from Windsor to Belleville..
In Northern Ontario, North Bay, Sudbury, S.S. Marie, Timmins, Thunder Bay areas and in Eastern Ontario for the Ottawa areas, including Pembroke, Cornwall and Brockville, both Regular and Premium gasoline currently do not contain any Ethanol.

Should you require further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards,





Suncor Energy Inc.
Customer Relations

[tasdrouille]

I know what will be in your tank comes may