Are E85 cars becoming so important for car market?

Question

Are E85 cars becoming so important for car market?

Answer 1

Actually, no. There are many pros and cons to the concept of using E85 ethanol as an alternative fuel to gasoline. E85 has less mileage on average than gasoline, therefore making E85 cost more overall, even though E85 is almost $1 cheaper. We will just have to see if E85 will work. So, it might, but it might not.

Answer 2

E85 is not good. I had a Ford Ranger that was E85 compatible, so I tried a tank. Instead of the 23 mpg I was getting, I got 18. Plus the engine ran hotter and the price was only $.10 cheaper. Really not worth it.

Answer 3

They will be obsolete in two years when full electrics and rapid chargers hit the market.

Answer 4

Ethonal Cars will be obsolete within the year. Ethanol will no longer be used

"Ethanol plants based on food crops are taking a serious hit because of the price hike for grains and the flooding in the Midwest that has wiped out a significant number of crops.

Recently, Heartland Ethanol tossed plans to build seven corn ethanol plants in Illinois, and even worse, it's dissolving the company -- all due to feedstock prices. VeraSun Energy is delaying construction at two of its plants because of the flooding.

With corn passing $8 a bushel and a 10% drop in production over the last year, it seems that corn ethanol is finally reaching the end of its popularity (of what little it had left), and corn ethanol plants are either already in or nearing the red without the prospect of getting funding thanks to the credit crunch.

Corn ethanol is likely just the first of many crop-based ethanols to take an immediate dive, despite the best efforts of biofuel companies. Ethanol stocks are getting downgraded since Citigroup analysts are predicting more large-scale shutdowns as small and midsize producers will be forced to close due to the price issues, representing a loss of between 2-5 billion gallons of ethanol per year.

Citigroup analyst David Driscoll is predicting that about 76% of ethanol plants are at risk of shutting down in the next few months. Earth2Tech has counted 11 plants whose operations have been suspended just since May (see the above map). Looks a little bit like a rapid downward spiral, doesn't it?

What does this mean for the future of biofuel? Well, most likely it means more research will go towards cellulosic ethanol and creating fuel from municipal waste, and companies already working on that technology will get a little more wiggle room from competitors for awhile. Figuring out how to turn trash into fuel is a whole lot more logical than turning crops to fuel anyway.

And I suspect fuel from algae will gain in popularity pretty quickly, making coal plants happy since it’s an opportunity for them to “green up” their image among the general population. I highly doubt the shutdowns will do much to change grain prices in the short term.

However, it’s tough to mentally dig ourselves out of yet another boom-to-bust industry in our already flailing economy, especially one that once held so much hope for those that wanted to "go yellow." We’ll just have to watch, wait, and hope that necessity is indeed the mother of invention and some awesome new cellulosic ethanol technology will bust wide open."

Answer 5

E85 = 85% ethanol.  This is the fuel for most of Brazil, because they have a very strong sugar cane industry which converts the sugar into ethanol by fermentation.

But, it is unlikely that E85 cars will play a big role in North America, just because there is not enough ethanol production to blend to E15, let alone E85.  Most modern cars can use E10 or E15 without any modifications to the engine.  Beyond E15, the compression of the engine has to be changed to handle the high alcohol content in the fuel.

Of course, ethanol is getting a 'bad name' lately because of the "fuel vs food" debate.  Most of the ethanol in North America is made from corn (a food material - for human or as feed).  We need to make ethanol from non-food material, like waste wood, or grass, or corn stalks, or other agricultural wastes.  This is called "cellulosic ethanol", but there are still technical challenges to making this work economically.

Answer 6

Poorer gas mileage and a MORE negative carbon footprint than a normal tank of gas as it takes a full gallon of oil to produce 1 gallon of E85 gasoline - not to mention competing land that could grow food.  Ethanol is NOT the answer.  We must come up with something truly eco-friendly.

Answer 7

I do know that e85 burns cooler that gasoline therefore you will get poorer milage resulting in more fuel ups.  So if your at the pump more often because of the cooler burning fuel mixture I do not see why this helps the environment.

Answer 8

Not in the US. But they are in Brazil. The cost of making an engine able to run on E85 is almost zero. Chevy sells cars with a zero cost option for a flex fuel engine. Flex fuel means the car can burn either E85 or regular gasoline. I don't understand why they don't just make it standard equipment!

Answer 9

Yes, car market is decreasing a lot because of oil price.

Answer 10

e85 is only unleaded gasoline that has 15% ethanol and 85% gas in it.  its acutally a dime cheaper out here in chicago... and hard to find...  It wont help you save big bucks unless you drive alot and have a big tank that guzzles gas.  Illinois used to require 10% ethanol in all gas sold in the state but that bill expired and has not ben renewed because it didn't save us any money.