E85, 85% fossil fuel free...

[Occasionally6]

That ^ is my (limited) understanding of why it's there; wider flammability limits (too rich in a gas tank to support a flame with gas, less so with ethanol) and that it is possible to generate a static charge when filling with the ethanol.

It's easy and cheap enough to do, with the consequences of it being needed and not there bad enough that I think it's worth doing, even if the overall risk is low.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

I never seen flame arrestors not even in Brazilian dedicated-ethanol cars either factory-fitted or converted.

[roosterk0031]

Please start tracking your MPG run 3 E10 tanks, then 3 E58 tanks, if your MPG drop of 1/3 from E10 to E85 is true that's worst than any of the FFV I'v owned ever did. Her Impala goes from 28is to 22ish with her commute (not 15 mph over) but only 4 miles HWY each way. Even when she was driving a K Suburban it only went from 15 mph down to 12.5. I would like to make my Cobalt FFV, but really don't think I need to change a thing, I've ran 40% blend in the Malibu and Stratus without issue. Just haven't played with it yet as E85 is cost prohibited at the moment.

[Allch Chcar]

If you're worried about price there's not much difference in MPG between E10 and E30. BTW, the EPA is trying to push for E30 as an alternative to Premium which IMHO is a much better solution than the E15 crap being pushed by the RFA: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/au...nol.html?_r=1& It's never going to pass the current Congress though. There's just no way.

Besides more power, Premium allows for more fuel efficient engines. So this could encourage more efficient engines. Competing against premium would give Ethanol an advantage price wise and finally provide a niche for higher Ethanol blends. But this is at least 5-10 years before this plan could happen. At this point none of the flexfuel cars take advantage of higher blends of Ethanol, they make only marginally more power due to tuning.

They're going to wish they passed the Flexfuel mandate back when support was high. We wouldn't have near the FUD if all new cars were flexfuel. I've no doubt that the E15 fiasco hurt the EPA's credibility and they ran the most testing they've ever done. Plus they alienated many car makers.

[Allch Chcar]

Sooo, who's running the moonshine now?

It might be a good time to try some splash blending.

[Quezacotl]

The price between e85 and regular gas is that little in the states, 22% ? I'd say not worth using it on those prices.
We have about 60% difference between them, so it is worth using it in Finland

[euromodder]

Ethanol can only be a solution if it's not competing with food supply.
It's bad enough that most biofuels will almost always compete for available farmland.

As long as it's the corn industry pushing for higher ethanol levels, something's wrong.
There's far more efficient ways and plants to make biofuels, that don't directly compete with food supply.

[Frank Lee]

^Wrong. All the evidence points to people not giving a rat's *** about food supplies: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...oney-9414.html

https://www.google.com/#gs_rn=17&gs_...w=1280&bih=699

Perhaps food is wasted even in Belgium:
http://selinajuul.blogspot.com/2012/...l-tragedy.html

Wouldn't it be the smart thing to do, to address the demand side of the equation?
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/w...8#.UbonJvlOT44

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by Quezacotl

The price between e85 and regular gas is that little in the states, 22% ? I'd say not worth using it on those prices.
We have about 60% difference between them, so it is worth using it in Finland

A good rule of thumb for saving money is that whenever E85 is at least 20% cheaper than regular, get it- if you're gonna run straight E85. Blends- it doesn't matter.

[Quezacotl]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

A good rule of thumb for saving money is that whenever E85 is at least 20% cheaper than regular, get it- if you're gonna run straight E85. Blends- it doesn't matter.

Well, E85 is consumed average 30% more than regular fuel. I'd say 30% is the rule of thumb for me.
Then someone would say newer cars can use the booze more efficiently. But then in other hand, those cars can use regular gas more efficiently too... So still, i could say 30% price difference is where is the line.