What % Of Alcohol Does Your State Have?

I didn't read this whole thread. MN has required 10% by law for many years now. It only harms very old collector cars and other very old engines. You can get non-oxygenated gas at a few pump around here and I run it in my old boat. But, it's a lot more expensive.

wa8yxm wrote:
Not exactly on topic but remember when the Safety adds said "Alcohol and Gasoline do not mix" (Of course they were talking about alcohol inside the Driver and gasoline inside the tank. but hey.. Intent of post is laughing.

I laughed.

Would be funnier without the explanation though... ;)

There may be something to the spiking mentioned above. I have a flex fuel truck, which has the ability to monitor alcohol content in fuel. I do occasionally check to see how much a tankful contains. I live in a E-10 state (E-85 is sold in separate pumps). The worst I've seen is 16.5% from a Sam's Club station, which gets their gas from Flying J/Pilot marked tanker trucks. From most other stations I read 9.8%. I did discuss this with a tanker truck driver, and he said it is possible that the last tankfull was E-85, and the driver didn't dump it all, refueled with E-10 and got a higher alcohol content.

The dirty little secret nobody wants to talk about is “fuel spiking” which appears to be on the increase.

Unscrupulous gas station owners can buy straight ethanol (currently ~$2.65 / gallon) and dump it into their storage tanks which is then sold at retail prices. The markup there certainly looks far more attractive than the traditional ~$0.15 / gallon a station owner gets.

A quick look at the increase in production of ethanol supports this idea since the increase is outstripping the legitimate uses, certainly in light of the much reduced consumption the last 2 years.

afidel I have to give you credit for digging in a little bit deeper. ;)

Getting right down to it. My go pedal on the Toyo seems a bit more "spongier" when running on the E 15. :h

Cheers

Dave H M wrote:

afidel wrote:
The only vehicles that should run E15 are those that are already flex-fuel certified (ie can run E85), anyone running E15 in a non-flex system is in for a world of hurt with very expensive repair bill coming most likely.

Where did that info come from. Toyo says to not run greater than E 15 in my highlander. :h

Maybe things have changed since I last looked into it then, at the time most vehicles were either made for E10 or E85 and those made for E10 generally had a bad time when run on anything more.

*Edit*
Ok, so after looking into it a bit it appears that more manufacturers and models support E15 than when I last looked, but even the Renewable Fuels association says that less than half the vehicles on the road carry a manufacturer support for E15. I guess the new answer I should give is if it's not flex-fuel then check your owners manual.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
It is curious that sugarbeet farmers with a crop that yields 134% more sugar per acre, and 40% of fertilizer are ignored.

Maybe their Lobbyist find much more money in sugar.

States or regions that do not meet EPA air quality guidelines normally have fuel with some Ethanol added during the smogiest time of year. In Nevada that means November to April will have 15% ethanol added to the fuel. The law was recently changed.

It is curious that sugarbeet farmers with a crop that yields 134% more sugar per acre, and 40% of fertilizer are ignored.

goducks10 wrote:

time2roll wrote:

miltvill wrote:
E85 gas has been sold for years at U-Gas stations in Florida. I don't use it in our Honda. My understanding is E85 has 51% to 83% ethanol. U-Gas always has plenty of customers, however; the gas cost the same as the 10% ethanol gas stations. I don't see the savings going to 15% ethanol will accomplish.

Any initial savings is lost in fuel economy due to lower energy content.

Depends on how much less $$ it is to how many mpg's you lose. You could actually save money.

For me personally, I won't buy E85 unless it's at least 25% less than E10. Anymore I see E85 for only a few pennies less than E10.