"We called Dale Schroeder, administrator of fleet vehicles for the Iowa Department of Administrative Services. That state has over 1,000 E85 cars in its vehicle fleet (mandated by the governor and the state legislature). Iowa started using E85 vehicles in 1991. So, we asked Schroeder, what is the impact on gas mileage of E85 in real-world conditions?
"In the first few years, I kept very close track of this," says Schroeder. "We had a 17% reduction in fuel economy with E85."
"Still, that answer is not so neat and tidy. Most people -- including state workers -- can't always put E85 in a car. There are still only a few hundred pumps nationwide that dispense E85. So, at least until recently, few flex-fuel cars have burned E85 exclusively. They will burn a tank of E85, then a tank of the more readily available E10, then another E85. As a result, the 17% reduction that Schroeder reports is based on his fleet burning about 55% E85, and 45% E10. "I was told that the [mileage] reduction could be 25%, so I didn't think 17% was too bad," he says.
E85 and gas mileage: Where lies the truth?
I can imagine a comparison of ethanol blend vs gasoline where ethanol comes out on top. All you need to do is test it with a vehicle that doesn't run well on low-octane fuel. Since ethanol has a very high octane rating, the test will show ethanol getting better mileage. But you don't need to add 15% ethanol to increase octane to the point where high compression engines will run well on it. Lower percentage mixes will work.
The jury is still out on whether, on balance, ethanol reduces emissions. Carbon monoxide emissions fell but some other toxic compounds, like formaldehyde and ozone are created. Under some conditions hydrocarbon pollutants increase.
Do I get to report the abuse of my intelligence.
You don’t know what your talking about.
Somebody please tell him, he won’t believe
me..........I don’t even know why I bother.....
E85 is scam(BIG OIL)fostered on ethanol people to get
results like you post, to put ethanol in a bad light.
That way get consumers mad at ethanol, keeping it down
so BIG OIL still has shortages to raise prices.
You’d expect E85 with 82,000 BTUs per gal of
the mix to get lower mileage, but the 10% mix
with 111,000 BTUs gets better mileage in our regular
compression V8s, than 115,000 BTU gas.
Somebody please tell him........