All the recent talk of America's oil addiction -- and using E85/ethanol to combat it -- sounds great. And with both GM and Ford working to offer more E85 vehicles it would appear we're on the right track. We even did a recent special report
on the current and future prospects of E85. Yet there remains one major obstacle -- most people can't actually buy ethanol-based fuel...
Of the 170,000 gas stations in this country, less than 600 offer E85. Supposedly the government is working on a plan to promote the construction of more E85 refueling stations, but who knows how long that will take? Probably about as long as it takes to start making real-world fuel cell cars (which also won't have any refueling stations). This is similar to our problem with oil refineries. We haven't built a new one in 20 years and the existing refineries are working 24/7 to keep up with demand. When so much as a light bulb burns out at one, the price of gas jumps 20 cents. I think we need a benevolent dictator to take complete control of our energy infrastructure and start over from square one.
By tryan
on March 14, 2006
03:53 AM
You hint at a point that many people miss when discussing the implementation of new fuel sources like E85, Hydrogen, etc. That is the complete lack of infrastructure to support delivery of these alternative fuels to the cars that use them. Hydrogen in particular will be an imposing obstacle. It's not impossible (a couple Hydrogen stations exist in California), but it does cost money. Where do you think the cost of building this new infrastructure goes? I'll give you two guesses, and one of them isn't that it's coming out of the pockets of the investors/owners.
By mikesright
on March 14, 2006
10:10 AM
I just have one question for the US Government. Where is all of these incentives and money for getting E85 off the ground? This fuel is needed sooner than later!
By canusa
on March 14, 2006
03:07 PM
This is a long historical problem in the USA. When I lived in Canada and vacationed int he US - I used to drive a propane powered van (old Bell ultility vehicle). This was the prime alternate fuel at teh time. Youc ould go anywhere in Canada and get refills. When I got to the US , not only was the price more than gas, but the refills had to be mapped out on your trip. Some refill stations were told by their gas suppliers that they would be cut off unless the got rid of the propane. Plus sa change, plus sa meme chose.
By robert4380
on March 14, 2006
03:41 PM
I think that building the infrastructure to have E85 readily available is totally feasible as long as we tighten the reigns on Congress. There is a very interesting article in this month's "Car and Driver" about just how much money has been wasted in the highway transportation bill. To sum it up, basically about 20 cents of every gallon of gas is tax money that goes into the federal pot for transportation issues. However, so much of this money is spent on issues not related to transportation, it's rediculous! These "pork" projects include that bridge to nowhere in Alaska, money to build green spaces and bike paths, money to make a freakin' documentary about that bridge to nowhere, etc. The list goes on. I think the article said there were over 6,000 items outlined in the bill as it was written. To me, this is absolutely absurd. Just think how many small business loans could be made to people with that money so they could open up a gas station or improve and upgrade the station they already have.
By elias
on March 24, 2006
09:23 AM
i understand that mpg is worse with E85 than with normal gasoline (E10 i suppose - or MTBE10). also that E85 is more expensive than normal gasoline. so those two things are quite the disincentive for the consumer to use E85.
on the other hand, i bet most drivers don't even know they are driving a vehicle capable of burning E85. any chance edmunds could post a list of the year&model of all known vehicles which can burn it?
By editor_karl
on March 24, 2006
08:55 PM
We actually do list vehicles as having flexible fuel capability, but we're going to change the current system because it just says "FFV" and that probably doesn't mean much to most consumers. We're going to udpate the way we display this information and also add it to our FAQ section.
By mikey14
on April 25, 2006
12:36 PM
Isn't E85 just GM's new spin on "buy domestic" since they have no real hybrids ("mild"is an understatement for the 2 mode system) and can't produce a viable small vehicle thanks to organized labor contracts. Just as hybrids aren't "the" answer, neither is E85.
By editor_karl
on April 25, 2006
03:25 PM
There is no single answer. But if all the partial answers were put together we could probably ween ourselves off the mid-east oil supplies pretty quickly. But that would require a coordinated effort on the government's and consumers' parts, so it ain't going to happen -- at least not until gas is much more expensive.