Originally Posted By: TiredTrucker
I want it all... ethanol, NG, propane, butanol, gasoline, diesel, etc, etc etc. Those that live in areas where ethanol is produced, ethanol specific engines would be the optimal choice. Those that live in areas where gas is more cost effective, then choose gas engines. Those that got access to numerous outlets of NG, then have at it. Butanol can be moved thru traditional pipelines whereas ethanol can't. This should not be a one thing or the other type of thing, We should be able to take advantage of all potential fuels. Drill it, pump it, brew it, make it out of trash and sewage, wring it out of algae, whatever. More fuel of all kinds for everyone.
If you look at Brazil: That's exactly what's happening already.
Owner's of Flex cars down there have a nifty little table that has the gasoline price on one side and E100 price plus 33% on the other. If ethanol is scarce and the price rises or gas prices drop, they fill their tank with gasoline. If it's harvest season for sugar cane and ethanol is abundant and inexpensive, they fill their tank with ethanol. That's the great thing about flex cars: They take both without a problem whatsoever. Triflex cars even take Russian natural gas on top of that.
We have something similar than that table, too, when E85 changes to E70 during the winter. It's not only more convenient because someone blends the least expensive mix for us, but also serves the purpose of better cold starting when the weather gets colder.
---
In my "condescension dripping" post above, I've also forgotten another thing:
4) But I heard that E85 deteriorates hoses in my fuel system.
This is something that comes via Brazil to us. This holds somewhat true for E100 with hydrous ethanol, meaning that it contains approximately 4% water, and water will rust metals and aluminum. Our E10 and E85 are however made from water-free, anhydrous ethanol. As your gas tank is a sealed system that does not allow (moist) air in, it will also stay anhydrous while in your vehicle and not cause oxidation of the intake manifold and metal tubing.
If you look at any car that was manufactured after 2000, you will see that A) they don't have any metal tubing or connectors at all but lines made from hard plastic, and B) that the intake manifold is also made from black plastic instead of metal. As a general rule of thumb you can also assume that if the intake manifold is made from plastic, your car was designed with ethanol in mind and is guaranteed to never suffer from any deterioration in the fuel system whatsoever. Fuel tanks have also been made from plastic since at least 1990 for safety reasons and will not deteriorate from ethanol, either.
It also removes removes deposits in the area of the inlet manifold and inlet valves. A car on E85 does not need injection cleaner, because E85 is itself an injection cleaner.
5) It breaks my fuel pump, does it not?
Again, maybe on E100. But E85 contains enough gasoline to properly lubricate older fuel pumps, and if your car has the black plastic inlet manifold, it will also have a PTFE/Teflon bearing in the fuel pump that doesn't need lubrication whatsoever.
---
It would be so convenient if more cars had those downsized, turbo-charged engines with a proper tune that runs on anything from straight gasoline to E85 while maximizing fuel economy for a given HP and torque output, and gas stations that would just blend a mix that gives you the most miles per dollar rather than four nozzles with E5, E10, E22 and E85. Yeah, that would be great.