How can E85 become a viable fuel choice with these prices?

[kingcobra8541]

I have been kicking around the idea of switching to E85 so I have been watching the prices. Around here E85 is $3.50 a gallon and regular is $3.90. As far as performance enthusiasts like us $3.50 a gallon is a bargain compared to race fuel but we are not what E85 is intended for or marketed to. My concern is that if there is no demand then E85 will go by the wayside. Why would anyone put E85 in their flex fuel Tahoe if it is only .40 cents a gallon cheaper and they use 30% fuel to go from A to B?:shrug: Is this a nation wide trend of just FL?

 

[04cobrawhine]

however our cobras dont take regular. they take premium. but i understand where your going. its $3.65 by me but premium is $4.55

 

[xtreme3169]

Right now I think all E85 is similiar in price to regular unleaded. But its almost more of a going green move right now. Kinda like people that shop for organic/natural groceries. Same concept here. Hopefully eventually it will be more cheaper than it is now. My .02!

 

[cobra=trouble]

super here is at a all time high $4.11 gal. soon at will be $5.00

 

[Parts-is-Parts]

You would think that e85 prices would only go up based on the percentage of gasoline in it.......wouldnt you.

Stupid America at work again.

 

[slowr w/o blowr]

I don't believe that E85 is geared towards High performance. Its just a side benefit that it has so much octane in it. I would burn E85 in my flex fuel truck if there was a 20% or 25% price difference. But around here in Indiana, its only like 10% less expensive as compared to 87 octane. I think its the gas station owners doing this. But, on the other hand, Corn commodity is at an all time high.

 

[GodStang]

E85 has been around since at least the 70s so not going anywhere any time soon. For us $2.99 for E85, $3.59 for 87, and $3.79 for premium. I asked the other day do they sell a lot and they say they sell a good amount of it.

 

[Chris _Scott]

Been wondering about the same thing..and it has been scaring me.

I'm going E85 for my build..and I remember about 2 years when it was a fraction of the price and now it has already almost caught up!

 

[SSeatr]

$3.25 here, I was told about a week or 2 ago that there is another station 25min from me thats under $3

prices today cheapest i found for gas :

87 - $4.03
89 - $4.15
93 - $4.25

 

[04sleeper]

Ethanol is not going anywhere. It is actually going to continue to increase over the next 15-20 years. The bills have already been signed and are being put in place.

The reason for the decreased fuel mileage is due to the engines being "Flex" compatible. They have to be able to still run on the old dirty low octane fuel so they are far from optimized.

If OEM's built a car to run only on E85, they could actually build a car that would get even better fuel economy than gasoline. Smaller high compression engines that would make more HP per Cubic Inch. (Look where Ecoboost is going) :idea:

 

[Chris _Scott]

Ethanol has a higher flash point/autoignition temperature and is a cooler fuel that also has a higher octane. So for performance purposes...it is a more desirable fuel.

However it contains a lower BTU amount than conventional gasoline, so it doesn't have the energy content of conventional gasoline. It takes ~1.39 gallons of E85 to have the same energy content as gasoline.

However that is purely speaking of energy content...tuners and manufacturers might be able to take advantage of the advantages of E85 [higher octane, cooler fuel] and make engines more efficient so that engines won't require as much BTU. I'm not all that familiar with production cars.

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

If the advances in Enzyme based production innovations continue to develop, so as to utilize non-food stuffs like sawdust, wood chips, silage, grass clippings and similar "waste" type sources, as opposed to cooking food stuffs, and also there becomes less reliance on government green funds, it will have a much more secure future.

Here's to hoping that continues to happen.:beer:

 

[stkjock]

If you want to run big boost/power E85 is such a more economical choice vs. race fuels.

$3.25 here, I was told about a week or 2 ago that there is another station 25min from me thats under $3

prices today cheapest i found for gas :

87 - $4.03
89 - $4.15
93 - $4.25

you see those prices on Sunrise Highway?

and the under $3 is in Massapequa?

 

[Grant Theft Auto]

You would think that e85 prices would only go up based on the percentage of gasoline in it.......wouldnt you.

Stupid America at work again.

i believe E85 is gonna sky rocket, look at the prices of corn the next time you go to the grocery store. they are going up!

i only know of 1 place here in orlando to get E85 and its off the turnpike. a friend runs his '93 RX7 off of it and he DD's when ever its nice out. wich is basically all the time here. on E85 and 30psi with a GT45R he is making 708rwhp but even he has said prices are going up. i'll have to ask him how much it cost him a gallon here

 

[04sleeper]

If the advances in Enzyme based production innovations continue to develop, so as to utilize non-food stuffs like sawdust, wood chips, silage, grass clippings and similar "waste" type sources, as opposed to cooking food stuffs, and also there becomes less reliance on government green funds, it will have a much more secure future.

Here's to hoping that continues to happen.:beer:

It will. :thumbsup:

Coskata, Inc.