E85 too expensive to make a difference right now - Autoblog

There are a lot of E85 haters out there, and we've certainly seen quite a few of you grace the comments section of this site. To the chagrin of Bob Lutz and George Bush, you may have a point.

Turns out that E85 is quite a bit more expensive than gas -- it takes 1.4 times as much of the 85/15 ethanol/gasoline mixture to go the same distance as gasoline, according to an article in USA Today. The paper points out a situation in Nebraska, where E85 cost $2.16 compared to $2.06 for gasoline blended with 10 percent ethanol, sometimes the Midwest's version of regular unleaded. The math just doesn't add up, and consumers aren't ready to spend more money for less efficiency.

The lack of demand due to the higher price could adversely affect efforts by Ford, GM and the Bush administration to push E85 as a viable alternative to gasoline, setting back plans to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil.

ReadPermalinkEmail thisLinking BlogsComments [46]
Recent Posts
China becoming global hub for auto electronics (2/27/2006)

Loremo debuts 150 mpg concept car in Geneva (2/27/2006)

Toyota Prius: The inside story (2/27/2006)

Identity i1 concept premieres in Geneva (2/27/2006)

Audi A3 Cabrio for 2008? (2/27/2006)

Reader Comments
(Page 1)
1. Here we can use the same argument that hybrid owners use to defend their purchases. There is a good chance they will never recoup the additional cost of a hybrid over a standard version of the same car through increased efficiency. They are willing to shell out the extra $$ anyway though, either to do their part for cleaner air, or to make a statement.

The same applies to e85. Buyers of the fuel will not recoup the higher price (at today's prices) through increased efficiency, but they will be doing their part for cleaner air and perhaps making a statement (although far less glamorous than in a hybrid)

Also, e85 may be more expensive now, but if something were to go wrong in the extremely volitile Middle East and dirsupt our tenuous relationship with the oil nations there, you might see that the domestic e85 will be cheaper. This is the beauty of the Flex Fuel cars - in times when the pure gas is cheaper, you can buy that. If the price of oil skyrockets, you are covered - buy the domestic ethanol.

Posted at 6:21PM on Feb 16th 2006 by Erik 0 stars

2. "America's dependence on foreign oil"

-Always has been, terror or not, always will be until the well runs dry-

Being from the class of 00, I'm let down that our older generation has failed us :-)

Posted at 6:53PM on Feb 16th 2006 by Ryan 0 stars

3. If we were using some other fuel, say hypolene (which is made up), and we had a choice to switch to gas made from black oil we pulled from the ground at great expense (natural and man resource-wise), or to switch to ethanol, guess which one we would pick.

The only reason we're not on E85 is because it wasn't available when we had to pick.

Now it is, but we're invested in an infrastructure which favors oil.

I say let's switch! Lets get the tax incentives rolling to make E85 competitive, and lets stop using oil to power cars. It is the right thing to do!

Posted at 7:10PM on Feb 16th 2006 by Matt 0 stars

4. "It is the right thing to do!"

Thank you, Wilford Brimley.