Who's currently running E85? - Page 2

AgTitan · 07-25-2006, 11:42 PM

Can all 05s and 06s use it? I have an 06 LE... Ive never heard about being able to use it

MO Titan · 07-26-2006, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AgTitan

Can all 05s and 06s use it? I have an 06 LE... Ive never heard about being able to use it

Check out the inside of your fuel door. It should have a sticker saying it can there. I am pretty sure all 05 and 06 can use E85. I am kind of SOL with my 04.

Elbo · 07-26-2006, 07:46 AM

There are some early 05's that aren't E85, or at least didn't have the E85 on the fuel door. So I would check that first, there is also a Vin # digit, you can check to be sure. The fourth character should be a "B"

I started running E85 here, I am getting 13 mpg, in the city, I have lost 1 mpg, it is 40 cents cheaper per gallon. It feels nice pulling up to that "special" pump, and giving the financial finger to the middle east.

I think we will see the price drop on E85, as more vendors start selling E85, and more suppliers make it. If you have a farm, you can actually distill it yourself, for around 75 cents a gallon. A special license is required, but apparently it is a simple formality.

Wi$h · 07-26-2006, 12:35 PM

The problem with making E85 economical is not how much it costs to make, its how much it costs to transport it. ethanol is corrosive so it can't be transported through a pipline, so it has to be transported by truck which costs alot more money.

thejosh · 07-26-2006, 12:40 PM

i had read somewhere that Ford found that power increased by 5% when switching to E85.

WYSIWYG · 07-26-2006, 01:05 PM

Sorry, I have to get on my soap box here...

Ethanol will never be a real substitute to gasoline. We simply cannot produce enough of it. The national average of E-85 is $0.70 per gallon higher than regular unleaded as of a week ago. The primary reason for this is the lack of supply. Almost all the gas sold in the US currently contains an average of 10% ethanol already as an oxygenate to reduce emissions which is contributing about $0.20 to the current cost per gallon. There are currently only a handful (relatively speaking) of stations in the US carrying E-85 and they're mostly in the midwest. If more stations want to carry it, there won't be nearly enough to supply them and the price will skyrocket along with the price of regular gas which needs the ethanol as well. I don't think anybody wants to get off of foreign oil or thumb their nose at the big oil companies as much as I do, but E-85 is nothing more than a PR gimmick for the automakers and a sound bite for the politicians. Once again, we're spinning our wheels when it comes to energy policy in the US.

...Thank you for letting me rant. I'll step down now.

-C

ttugrad95 · 07-26-2006, 02:29 PM

Well your right C, its the need to 10% ethanol in all gasoline that is driving the price up. And per my earlier post, E-85 capable vehicles is nothing more to the manufacturers than a loophole in the federal fuel milage requirements.

TornadoLandTitan · 07-26-2006, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WYSIWYG

Sorry, I have to get on my soap box here...

Ethanol will never be a real substitute to gasoline. We simply cannot produce enough of it. The national average of E-85 is $0.70 per gallon higher than regular unleaded as of a week ago. The primary reason for this is the lack of supply. Almost all the gas sold in the US currently contains an average of 10% ethanol already as an oxygenate to reduce emissions which is contributing about $0.20 to the current cost per gallon. There are currently only a handful (relatively speaking) of stations in the US carrying E-85 and they're mostly in the midwest. If more stations want to carry it, there won't be nearly enough to supply them and the price will skyrocket along with the price of regular gas which needs the ethanol as well. I don't think anybody wants to get off of foreign oil or thumb their nose at the big oil companies as much as I do, but E-85 is nothing more than a PR gimmick for the automakers and a sound bite for the politicians. Once again, we're spinning our wheels when it comes to energy policy in the US.

...Thank you for letting me rant. I'll step down now.

-C

The push for use of E85 may be driven a lot by politics, BUT, as an example, Brazil is now energy independent because 25 years ago they decided they did not want to depend on the middle east for oil. They make their ethanol from sugar cane. The point is, it can be done, if the politicians did not lean whichever way the wind was blowing today.

frmrFORDman · 07-26-2006, 02:50 PM

LOL what oil company is going to cut its own throat and sell E 85 cheaper than gasoline. if i bought 55 gallons of strait ethanol here in missouri its about $.70 a gallon. i was looking at running my mustang on ethanol after i read a report on the power advantages of ethanol. its 114 octane strait. but the real demon of E85 is its corrosive. ive read of it pitting aluminum. um what are our engines made out of?

Wiscdave · 07-26-2006, 02:51 PM

I'd be curious to see the MPG towing with E85 vs 100% gas. Anyone have any experience with it. I was thinking of trading up this year if the deals get really good on a 06 titan that can run the E85 if the towing mpg were there. It seems like everywhere I go I tow something..wheelers, sleds, boats, TT, wood, ...heaven forbid I show up without bringing the toys.

WYSIWYG · 07-26-2006, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TornadoLandTitan

The push for use of E85 may be driven a lot by politics, BUT, as an example, Brazil is now energy independent because 25 years ago they decided they did not want to depend on the middle east for oil. They make their ethanol from sugar cane. The point is, it can be done, if the politicians did not lean whichever way the wind was blowing today.

I know about Brazil. 1) The government controls their fuel supplies, 2) they don't consume even a fraction of what the US does.