Can any vehicle run properly on E85 fuel?

Question

There is a station near me that sells E85 for $2.70/gallon and I'm just curious how that works. Do you have to have one of the "flex-fuel" vehicles?

Also, I heard you actually get LESS miles per gallon, anyone know about that?

Answer 1

Yes any gasoline powered vehicle will run on E85. The old carburetor cars will run on it. And the newer cars present no problems. My son's Crown Victoria runs on it as well as our Saab.

Answer 2

E85 is a waste of time. Lower cost is eaten up by lower mileage.  It is hardly a good alternative. Think, if all cars used it, where we grow all that corn. I'm not a big fan of turning food into fuel. You may solve some problems "here" but cause new ones "there".

Answer 3

Regular cars can not run on E-85 gas.  You must have a flex vehicle although there are conversion kits that can be purchased to convert other cars.   One of the drawbacks to E-85 is that there is reduced gas mileage but it is offset by the cheaper price.

Answer 4

I've heard less mileage I 'm of the understanding that late model vehicles if you have a green gas cap then you can run it The computer compensates for the following statements. I build a race motor for alcohol 3/8 mile. It takes  approx twice the amount the amount of fuel compared to race fuel to make the same amount of power But it can and does run a lot higher comp ratio and your motor almost never gets hot a lot better as far as builder friendly. It is a different fuel thats for sure. The e 85 is 85 percent alcohol Put 1/4 tank in and try it with 3/4 regular If you here a pinging noise while going up a hill then back off the trottle and don't use again

Answer 5

Most modern cars have to be converted to run on E85. In Ireland they sell factory converted biofuel SAABs, Ford Flexi-Fuels and Bi-Fuel Volvos.

These will run on E85 exclusively, petrol or a combination of both. The engine management systems on modern cars need to adjust according to what fuel is in the tank so most petrol cars can't run, without modification, on E85.

It's true that E85 gets less miles per gallon but in many countries it gets tax breaks making the cost that bit less than petrol all calculations considered. You also benefit from increased horsepower and lower CO2 emissions which helps if you care about global warming.

I'm not sure that it's the answer though. A lot of energy goes into producing E85 in the first place and, as stated earlier, the land used would previously have produced food.

Personally the jury is still out on biofuel in my opinion.