Can all cars function on ethanol?

Question

Can all cars function on ethanol?

Answer 1

No.Only gas powered cars can be converted. diiesels have to use biodiesel.

Answer 2

Nope...but Ted Kennedy can!  (hic)

Answer 3

Ethanol is a very different substance than standard

gasoline mixtures.  Ethanol produces less energy than gasoline and destroyes standard gaskets and other engine parts.

Engines must be specifically designed to use ethanol blends.

Since ethanol takes a lot of energy to produce, is inefficient and does not transport well along with the fact that ethanol could only take the place of a few percent of our energy needs even if the entire country was planted with corn means that ethanol will not be our long term energy savior.

Currently ethanol is highly subsidized and could not compete with gasoline on the open market without those taxpayer subsidies.  Whether you use ethanol or not your currently paying for it.  Many farmers, ethanol plants and "Big Agriculture" are making a lot of money off the backs of the average citizen.

Answer 4

It does not really matter in this question whether there are some cars that would have problems running on ethanol. The world could not produce enough ethanol to make this possible while still feeding its population.

Yes, diesels too can run on ethanol/natural gas blends or ethanol/deisel fuel. But it is entirely a problem of supply. Even with very high prices for ethanol we make a choice between driving or eating.

We could all drive vehicles that consume less than 50 litres per megametre, (contrast typical cars that use over 100 litres) and we could cut our distance travelled in half. This would barely make an ethanol/bio-fuel economy viable.

Answer 5

There is an additional problem with ethanol... it is hydrophyphilic and because of that ethanol fuel systems are susceptible to bacterial growths [slime and goo make for excellent fuel economy and using food stuff to power vehicles is muy brillante]

Answer 6

No, there is a required mixture of fuel to air for the explosion to occur, and the computers of most cars are set for gasoline and a low blended form of gas/ethanol, but very few can run on straight ethanol, even though it has a higher octane level.

A more to the point answer is that yes all cars "COULD" run on ethanol, but you have the problem of it not going to vapor at low temperatures.

Answer 7

If it is an internal combustion engine, with proper air / fuel mixture, it can burn straight alcohol, or any mixture of gasoline and alcohol.  

Indy 500 vehicles have run off of 100% alcohol for close to 50 years. It has a higher octane rating than gasoline, and is often mixed with gasoline sold at the pumps to raise the gasolines' octane rating.

In the older carburated IC engines, anyone with the knowledge could change the fuel mixture jets in the carburetors and it would run on straight alcohol or any gas / alcohol mixture. During WWII many engines were switched to alcohol because gas wasn't readily available for civilian use.

In the newer fuel injected vehicles, the engines use a meter that measures the amount of fuel being injected into the cylinders. Changing the control computer chip will allow the engine to run off of gasoline, alcohol or any mixture of the two.

For fuel to be ignited in the IC engine, it must be vaporized. Gasoline vaporizes at very low temperatures making it an ideal all weather fuel.

Alcohol must be raised to room temperatures to vaporize, making it a poor cold weather fuel for your vehicle unless it is mixed with something like gasoline. However, once the engine starts and warms up, the engine heat can be used to raise the temperature of the alcohol and the engine can be switched to 100% alcohol.

Answer 8

why would you want to. Its more expensive , and you get worse gas milage . More expensive to prossess .