Looking up the Ricardo stuff that's been talked about to find the actual, not spun skinny on it, came across ...
http://www.caranddriver.com/news/ricardo-announces-a-better-way-to-use-ethanol-car-news
Quote:
E85 currently costs about 10 percent less than regular gasoline in most areas, but because of its lower energy content delivers a 30-percent reduction in fuel economy. It’s no wonder the vast majority of the millions of E85-capable, flex-fuel vehicles on the road never burn the stuff. The reason these flex-fuel vehicles exist is a regulatory loophole that allows the automakers to boost their fleet fuel-economy average (CAFE) because the government only counts the 15 percent gasoline content when calculating mileage. A flex-fuel Chevy Tahoe, for example, received an absurd 97-mpg E85 rating, which boosts that all-important CAFE number.
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/ethanol-promises-e85-and-fuel-economy-page-7
Quote:
With fewer than 600 stations selling E85 fuel in 37 states, why have GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler been cranking out these flex-fuel vehicles by the millions?
The answer is the mandatory Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Federal law requires that the cars an automaker offers for sale average 27.5 mpg; light trucks must achieve 22.2 mpg. Failure to do so can result in substantial fines. However, relief is available to manufacturers that build E85 vehicles to encourage their production.
The irony here is that although E85 in fact gets poorer fuel economy than gasoline, for CAFE purposes, the government counts only the 15-percent gasoline content of E85. Not counting the ethanol, which is the other 85 percent, produces a seven-fold increase in E85 mpg. The official CAFE number for an E85 vehicle results from averaging the gas and the inflated E85 fuel-economy stats.
http://www.caranddriver.com/news/ricardo-announces-a-better-way-to-use-ethanol-car-news
Quote:
E85 currently costs about 10 percent less than regular gasoline in most areas, but because of its lower energy content delivers a 30-percent reduction in fuel economy. It’s no wonder the vast majority of the millions of E85-capable, flex-fuel vehicles on the road never burn the stuff. The reason these flex-fuel vehicles exist is a regulatory loophole that allows the automakers to boost their fleet fuel-economy average (CAFE) because the government only counts the 15 percent gasoline content when calculating mileage. A flex-fuel Chevy Tahoe, for example, received an absurd 97-mpg E85 rating, which boosts that all-important CAFE number.
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/ethanol-promises-e85-and-fuel-economy-page-7
Quote:
With fewer than 600 stations selling E85 fuel in 37 states, why have GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler been cranking out these flex-fuel vehicles by the millions?
The answer is the mandatory Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Federal law requires that the cars an automaker offers for sale average 27.5 mpg; light trucks must achieve 22.2 mpg. Failure to do so can result in substantial fines. However, relief is available to manufacturers that build E85 vehicles to encourage their production.
The irony here is that although E85 in fact gets poorer fuel economy than gasoline, for CAFE purposes, the government counts only the 15-percent gasoline content of E85. Not counting the ethanol, which is the other 85 percent, produces a seven-fold increase in E85 mpg. The official CAFE number for an E85 vehicle results from averaging the gas and the inflated E85 fuel-economy stats.