I have run E85 for over a year. I have mixed in regular gas as well. If you all want to see my mileage chart, I will post it.

For over 1 year, my E 85 average is 13.7 (city and Highway combined).
My average for regular in that year is 15.1 combined.

So, that makes the loss of mileage only 9%.

Here in IA, E85 is $.90 cheaper than regular. Regular costs $.26 per mile to burn. E85 costs $.20 to burn. Saves me $21.00 per tank. Or $1092 per year.

 

Ethanol is cheaper in IA because you don't have to have it shipped in by rail. Whereas in other parts of the country, atleast in FL I've seen it $0.15 more than gas.

But we all pay (roughly) the same for gas because the shipping distance (for the middle east) is (roughly) the same.

I'd say you're a lucky one to get 13.7 from E85, but not so much with the 15.1, unless its a 2500 or something. From most people, I've heard the FF trucks getting ~12 with E85 and ~15.5-16 with gas (which is what I get).

I don't want it to sound like I'm *completely* against ethanol,I mean if they could make it cheaper or more efficient than I'd be fine. More efficient is basicallyimpossible without a complete engine redesign. But cheaper is possible, with corn based E85 it takes 0.75gal worth of energy (in ethanol gallons) to make 1 gallon. Meaning, it takes 3 gallons worth of energy to make 4 gallons of ethanol. If they made ethanol from switchgrass or sugar beets the yeild is 2-3 times higher(with similar energy), dropping production costs close to in half. I'd pay $2.00/gal with 13mpg, but they've (autofuel makers) have invested too much money in corn Ethanol (from spending on corn E85 research), so they dont want to take the hit in lost revenuefrom future corn ethanol sales. Because when it comes down to it, switchgrass and sugarbeet ethanol is twice as hard to produce and requires different equipment. But if you can quadruple your end product with twice the resources, the equates to doubling your net production.

 

My 15.1 includes pulling a trailer, 0 degree temps, and hard driving. So, it is real world mileage. When E85 hit the same price of gas, I quit using it. Now, at nearly 1 dollar less than gas, it is the deal of the day.

I also agree that there needs to be a different product from which we make Ethanol. Sugar beets would be perfect, since they can be grown all over the US easily.

 

Sugar beets produces uptoFOUR times more sugar by weight than corn (15-20%* vs 5-10%**)


*: http://agronomy.unl.edu/ffa/SugarBeet.htm
**: http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/sustainable...s/botcorn.html

 

Ethenol yeah its great? Do your research and you will find its nothing but a joke. We can produce a Green fuel that uses as much petrolium to produce as it replaces.Ethenol will do nothing but harm our economy. Everything we buy gets shipped to us by way of Diesel power. Diesel engines can run biodiesel with little modification and still get much better MPG than a gas engines.

 

Please post your data bhenderson. You are wrong.

 

You can sway the statistics anyway you want, here's a hydrogen car that gets over 12,000 mpg (equivalent of gasoline) http://www.paccar.ethz.ch/news/index

But, as for passenger cars, Honda'sAccord 2.2 i-CTDi Sport set a world record at 92 mpg (diesel) But, I believe hybrid gas/electrics could easily top that (and probably diesel/elec hybrids)

 

OK i now now the ethaol is a joke now
just this past weekend i was back home and there is one
gas station that i have found that is still running 100% no crap additives
and it was .18 cheaper then the gas with attitives in it all arond the area
i have always been keeping an eye on what my milage is and i waited till i got on E to fill up there
and on this trip back home well i normaly get about 15.2 hwy on this trip.
now on the way home with the 100% gas i got 16.8 thats almost 2 MPG better and cheaper WTF
and i have never seen 16 in this truck up down hills how ever i drive i drive same on this trip all time cruz at 70
not many lights to stop at.

 

whoever said ethanol must be produced from corn? once they figure out which mixture of enzymes will efficiently break down cellulose, ethanol will be easy to produce from a renewable source without hurting food supplies. another thing i can't figure out, why not buy a flex fuel vehicle? it adds no extra cost at all to a vehicle. more options are a good thing. demand is one third of the equation, the other two thirds are supplyand distribution. maybe if there were more of a demand ethanolwill become a moreviable option.and for those who sit and say "ethanol is a joke", not everybody lives in florida or areas where ethanol is not widely available, some people live in areas where ethanol is readily available at a much lower cost than gasoline.

 

Yes, ethanol gives you less mileage. That is known and accepted. The reason to use it is to keep ourselves independent from those who want to reap the profits, and then kill us because we either don't believe in their god, or believe in Jesus. Plus
our country grows through additional jobs and better farm income. When Ag dies, so does the country.

The thing is, even though you have less mileage, your cost per mile is down if the price is set right.