My 2011 Caravan has the capability of using E85. In my three years of driving around Massachusetts, I’ve only seen E85 for sale in 2 locations, both at ludicrous prices. Two weeks ago, the gas station was selling regular gas (E10?) for $2.99 and E85 for $2.89. By my calculation, E85 has about 30% fewer BTUs per gallon. In this case, the cost-per-mile price of E85 was the equivalent of about $4.20 per gallon.
With all the hype about ethanol, why is the per-BTU price more expensive than gasoline?
Because ethanol costs more to produce than gasoline.
But before we all start bashing ethanol again, consider the context, as Forbes magazine explained in what was actually a very anti-ethanol article.
Leaving aside the cleaner emission arguments for another thread, the only reason for E-85 ethanol to exist is in case of another oil crisis, where the price of gasoline skyrockets.
Sometimes the E85 is not more expensive per mile. I don’t know the exact number ( it’s around 40 or 50 cents a gallon) , but my husband has figured out how big the price difference has to be for E85 to be cheaper per mile and we have on occasion seen prices that big a price difference.
Last week E85 was $2.27; Reg was $2.67. Biggest difference I’ve seen. But Ive never seen E85 for sale outside of military bases. What stations commonly have it?
I know there’s a few around me, or at least there were, I assume they still sell it but it’s not something I pay much attention to since I’ve never had any use for it.
ETA, according to the above link, at least the one station I was thinking of does still have it.
I think you’re off a little with your numbers. E85 has an energy density of 25.2 MJ/L compared to 33.7 MJ/L for E10. So that’s 25% less, not 30%. Even using the prices you stated, the cost per mile for E85 is the same as you’d get from paying $3.86 for E10. But the bigger problem is you seem to be assuming that the only reason an end user would choose E85 is to save money.
I buy free-range chickens in the grocery store, even though they cost MORE than conventional chickens, because I have other reasons. I buy whole-wheat bread, even though it costs MORE than white bread, because I have other reasons. It doesn’t take much imagination to see that other people could make a similar decision about E85 vs. E10, willing to pay more.
Personally, I have never owned a Flex-Fuel vehicle, because they tend to be big vehicles which would otherwise be considered gas guzzlers. If I go shopping for a new car and find a subcompact which gets 40 mpg and compact sedan which gets 35 mpg and a pickup truck which gets 22 mpg, the fact that the pickup truck can use E85 won’t be enough to make me choose that one instead of the subcompact. But, if I had already decided to buy a pickup truck and there are two identical trucks except one is Flex-Fuel and the other isn’t, I’d probably buy the Flex-Fuel.
E85 is popular with tuners. It’s around 105 octane and can withstand higher compression and more boost in a forced induction setup without knocking, ultimately creating more power. It requires bigger injectors and a bigger fuel pump to push more fuel through as it does have less energy density and it needs different fuel lines than regular gasoline because it is slightly acidic.
7 years ago, in Ft Collins, CO, it was about a dollar cheaper.