Reading all of these threads about people using E85, it seems people are pretty happy with their choice in switching. First I would like to say I myself have considered making the switch, but I really want to keep my car as stock as I can, aside from a few minor mods. Honestly though, there isn't an E85 station within 25 miles of me, so that would be out right away.

My thread title comes from this.. my uncle ( who was in the house of delegates ) and I had a discussion about E85 and I asked him what he thought of the E85 craze that lasted for a while. Now it seems it has fizzled out and people have just realized that it wasn't as great of an idea as we thought. It gets less mileage and takes quite a bit to actually make it ( from the little i've read and i'm no expert ) If you weigh out the cost ( usually being lower than gasoline ) with the mileage the cost is probably about the same... or fairly close. My Uncle called it one thing " feel good politics "

From those of you who use it and are unbiased, what is your thought on E85 from a perfomance, cost, etc standpoint?

 

Its pretty simple really... if you look at it from the performance side... Where else can you get 105 octane for 3.00 or less a gallon?

 

It tunes like 110 octane but costs a 1/3 of it. Win win for me.

 

I think you need a broader exposure. Simply visit any car forum. ANY car forum, and search for E85. There is a huge interest in E85.

E85 Mustangs

E85 Corvette racing program

E85 Viper

E85 Saab

E85 Hummer

E85 New Cars

E85 Evos

There are 134 threads in the Evom Alt Fuels (primarily E85) forum. Eleven threads are from last year and 123 new threads in 2008. I'd say interest has NOT fizzled out at the user end.

As to politicians, if they can see a corn field from their house that makes them an expert on Ethanol.

 

E85 FTW, only thing that worries me is that if the demand increases, will the price eventually make up for it. I dont wanna get hooked then have it skyrocket in price.

 

I know I use more cause I can't keep the gas pedal off the floor. I am very glad I made the switch

 

My take is pretty simple: I simply can't buy C16 or better for much less that $8-9/gallon. The price is right, at least for now, and the cost is almost a wash; it's slightly more expensive for me to run E85 than E10 with current prices, but it's worth it (at least for me).

If the market swings and the price goes back up, no harm, no foul: I'll go back to E10, and build a meth injection setup.

 

It's even a better bargain if you don't daily drive your car, which I don't. I fill up maybe once every week and a half, and that's driving on the weekends only. I used to do the same with 93, so the 105 octane performance is a win-all situation for me.

 

Good for the environment? NO!

Good for the economy? NO!

Fun to drive? Yes.

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/...ostly.ssl.html

 

That article pre-dates the general notion of ethanol production from other sources, though, and doesn't take recent production improvements into account. Cellulosic and algae-derived ethanol production makes a whole lot more sense, both fiscally and environmentally, and the social benefits of moving to local production for one of our most important consumables isn't something to scoff at.

Give up the notion that we need to use corn to produce it, and suddenly, ethanol looks like one hell of a good energy source. That'll annoy a lot of midwestern farmers, but they're currently sitting on 1.62B bushels of corn they haven't been able to move anyway, so they're overproducing in response to market conditions (ie. subsidies) anyway.

 

Besides the fun-factor for turbo cars, ethanol makes very good sense as a transition fuel as we move towards electric cars. The development of algae-based ethanol production will make E85 a truly renewable and cheap energy source for vehicles. The automanufacturers should love it because only minor mods are required to make a vehicle E85 compatible.

My guess is that if algae-based ethanol production takes off (or some other highly economical method for producing E85), all new cars will be made E85 compatible, and E85 will become the fuel of choice for any vehicle capable of running E85. I'd love to see this happen not just because it would make finding E85 for my Evo easier, but also because of the resulting massive reduction it would have on our purchases of crude oil from the Middle East. It would be a major step in reshaping the world political landscape.

The only other possibility I see happening is that there could be a breakthrough in battery technology that could suddenly make recharging a battery in an electric car as easy as filling a tank with gasoline. If that happens, then the automakers will probably just try to survive on gasoline for the next several years while the infrastructure for "electric" refueling gets built.

 

The reality is that people don't know what they are talking about 90% of the time. The real problems that ethanol faces are not the efficiency of producing it (corn is absolutely one of the worst substances to use); it’s the political back scratching and throat grip that large corporations have on the United States (oil companies more specifically for this case).

You see...the people in charge of the US(their job is to keep themselves and their constituents rich by keeping the middle class happy and voting for them), and the people in charge of electing the people in charge of the US are mostly ignorant.

The rich senators etc... Have mostly self-interest/self-preservation in mind while they are on paid vacations with corporate America which makes/forces their corporate interests upon the malleable senators (or anyone who has political power).

Now the people voting for these rich **** holes, are either under the belief that the politicians are going to work for the people with the people's interests inline or they are ignorant of mostly infutible facts of how corrupt the government is or they are under the illusion that is forced down Americas throat, that change is accomplished by voting.

The fact is voting keeps in office the rich people who represent mostly the financially secure top 1-2%. Will this change...not as long as you keep voting!!!

Problems impeding ethanol production:

1:
We produce it from corn, and if anyone did any research they would find that Brazil's highly successful and efficient ethanol production uses sugar cane (the US could have easily used sugar beets).

2:
Oil companies made the biggest profit in years this year....hmm gas = lots and lots of money. Money buys political power.

I know this is a long post, but hey it I think it needs to be understood that ethanol is a very promising fuel and we have the technology right now to convert cars so easily. We are simply screwed by the political process. I don’t think ethanol is the end all solution, but it’s certainly clear it’s an excellent band-aid.

When I converted to ethanol I felt I was doing a HUGE patriotic thing. I mean our brothers and sisters are dying over oil in Iraq, and here I am partially breaking my dependence on foreign oil.


Flame on...

 

E-85.. like everyone has said is an awesome solution for value per gallon vs 91 octane value per gallon.. I get 600+HP on E-85 I'm happy with that ..

 

Why do taxpayers have to subsidize it's production again? I must have forgot.

 

That was written July of 2005, three and a half years ago. That is a long time in both politics and in energy science.