E85: a solution or a flop?

[badjuju342]

The automakers are gearing up to E85 ( look at GM's Flex Fuel program) but is this a real solution? E85 is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline . While the premise seems reasonable enough , it is less efficient and is more expensive. E85 is about 74% efficient versus a 90% gasoline efficiency. So you pay more per gallon and make more trips to the pump. It is a cleaner burning fuel but requires a special fuel delivery system in the vehicle. I can't see this being a solution in it's present state. The hybrids are another dilema. You pay a higher price thus depleting any savings in fuel costs and their used value will be virtually nil because of the huge costs to replace the batteries. To me , a better solution is the advent of more vehicles with options like the six speed auto transmissions, more efficient fuel delivery / usage. Any thoughts on this?

[badjuju342]

Just had another thought on this too, the Displacement on Demand (DOD) will be another avenue that needs to be available on more vehicles.

[Biff85ta]

E85 is a much more viable alternative to me but is not a permanent solution. E85 is not as exotic as you might think and most newer car could be converted fairly easily as the fuels system in them can already handle it from a corrosion standpoint. You basically need injectors and a tune to make it work.

[Phoenix 5.7]

E85 isn't a long term solution, but could help out trememdously with government support. 1. it reduces oil consumption and could help us keep much of our oil demands internal and 2. it provides farmers with someway to sell their crop. farmers are suffering and we are losing alot of them.

[The DanSmith]

1 word......Propane. Small Hydrocarbon, burns extremely clean, relativly easy to convert a gasoline engine, and 112 octane rating.

Did a paper on it for school last semester.

[Phoenix 5.7]

Ok Hank

[1SlowHoe]

E85 is a pain in the butt. I had to replace the injectors, wiring, blah blah to get it to go faster:) Plus, there is only 1 station that I know of anywhere near me that sells the stuff. And I'm not sure they even have it.
The injectors are a little different, there is a sensor to detect if you're running E85 or gasoline and the in tank pump is a little more powerful but other than that, E85 and regular gas cars are the same.
It now costs me $55 or more a week to drive my "Slightly" modified Tahoe (8-10mpg). If I were running E85 I would get the same horrible gas mileage with non of the performance gains. (Well I guess you could run a little more timing because of the octane increase with methanol) At a point you have to wonder if burning up 2X as much fuel, even if its cleaner, is worth it. Do 2 tanks of methanol pollute less than 1 tank of 93? Is it worth doubling your fuel bill? DOD seems like a much better option to me.

[Biff85ta]

Ethanol and methanol are two vey different fuels and E85 will net usually about 20% less fuel mileage at worst some do not even see a difference. Methanol is also extremely corrosive in comparision to ethanol (the main part of E85). While it is not reccomended if you can run most non flex fuel vehicles on E85 without damage. I had seriously considered building my TPI TA for E85 when I had it but the lack of supply and info on injector sizing convinced me at this time it is not the best idea.

DOD is not a new thing and does not impress me. It is just one further system to make for major repair bills down the road with little to no gains. There are too many LS1 f-bodies that can knock down the mileage of a smaller displacement DOD motor to convince me it has any real benefits.

[1SlowHoe]

I always type methanol when I mean ethanol. I don't know why. Maybe because I'm still deciding on a meth injection kit:)

[Biff85ta]

I really think the big thing holding back E85 is a poor distribution system at this time. It has been around for fifteen years and all the state cars (excluding police cars) in my area are flex fuel but I have yet to see E85 at a pump.