Q. My vehicle operates on E85. The manufacturer's estimated range is 229 to 330 miles with a tank of E85 versus 312 to 474 miles with 10 percent unleaded/ethanol blend. So E85 provides 70 to 73 percent of the miles per gallon that gasoline does. If you drive 15,000 miles and average 25 m.p.g. using gas, the lower cost for E85 (40 cents a gallon less) doesn't compensate for the lower mileage.A. You are preaching to the choir. We've noted several times that vehicles run on E85, the blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, get up to 30 percent less mileage than they do with the 10 percent blend. So motorists have to do a little homework and determine the mileage they are getting with a 10 and 85 percent blend to see whether the lower price makes up for the lower mileage. The advantage of E85 is not better mileage, it's lower emissions and a small step toward reducing dependence on foreign oil.
Congress is really pushing E85 as the cure to America's indulgence of Oil, yet
what they do not ever mention is that you have to use more E85 to go the same
distance as regular gas.
The only thing E85 does is have less emissions, it is not the "cure" for oil dependance.
Posted by Quality Weenie at June 25, 2007 08:24 AM | TrackBack