If we are making all this ethanol, then where are the cars that uses it?

Question

maybe i just havent noticed but i have never seen a car advertised that runs on ethanol

and how 'green' is ethanol???

Answer 1

They're all still on the lots. Why dont you go out and buy one? The gas mileage on these 'flexfuel' cars is supposed to be incredibly good, so it should equal out your money that you spend on the car or truck. And people are buying the flex-fuel cars - Micheal Bloomberg (you know him, the mayor of New York), wants to make the entire taxi fleet of the city flex-fuel cars! Wow.

Answer 2

About a million cars a year are now made in the US that are "flex-fuel" and can run on either 85% ethanol or gasoline.

Ethanol is a small win now for energy independence and global warming.  It will become a big win when we figure out how to make it from things like saw grass which grow on poor land with little water.

Answer 3

ethanol production was almost stopped, reduce to almost nothing, because someone was saying we were using all the corn and people were not being fed. Even though it is a TOTALLY different corn. idiots

Answer 4

The state of California bought a thousand ethanol cars, and Gov. Swarzy is taking flak because there's no ethanol to pump into them, so they're using regular fuel and doing it in a less efficient way than old cars would have.

We can't keep up with the demand for E85.

Answer 5

Ethanol has been an additive in all kinds of fuels for a good 20 years now.

Go to a car dealership and ask about E85 and you'll understand that a lot actually do, most dealers have a handful of them.

edit: yeah, it's as high as 15% in some places.

Answer 6

I have seen some ads (Ford and some other brands that runs on ethanol). But I am with you on the skepticism on the "greenness" of the ethanol. I know we don't have to rely on foreign countries to supply us with Ethanol but is it much cleaner than Fossil fuel? If so then by how much? Someone with more knowledge please answer this for us.

Answer 7

General Motors are getting ready to release new cars in 2008 that will run on ethanol. and there are already some cars that run under ethanol, they are just hard to find because not many dealerships want to sell them until the number of ethanol pumps goes up.  Ethanol does not release anything back up into the air, but if i were the head of everything i would prefer hydrogen because it just dissolves.

Venesuela has been using ethanol in their cars for years.

Answer 8

cars are mode IN this country by American companies, that are sold in Brazil that use ethanol.

Answer 9

It's mostly used as a fuel additive, most cars can run on gasoline that is part ethanol.  I think it's around 5-10% ethanol at some gas stations.

Answer 10

All these hybrid cars are just that, there are also clean electric type hybrids.

1969 General Motors XP-883

1899 Dr Ferdinand Porsche, then a young engineer at Jacob Lohner & Co, built the first Hybrid Car.[1]

1907 AL (French car)

1972 Towns Microdot

1989 Audi 100 Duo

1994 Audi 100 Duo

1996 AC Propulsion tzero (primarily electric vehicle; 80 mile PbA, 300 mile Li-ion(2003) EV-mode)

1997 Toyota Prius (first commercially mass-produced and marketed hybrid automobile) (Japanese market only)

1997 Audi A4 Duo (Audi became the first manufacturer in Europe to mass produce a hybrid vehicle. Their hybrid vehicle is powered by a 66 kW 1.9-litre TDI-Engine and a 21 kW electric motor)

1999 Honda Insight 2000 model

2000 Toyota Estima hybrid (Japanese market only)

2000 Toyota Prius US market

2002? Mazda Demio e-4WD (Japanese market only, used for traction assistance)

2002 New Flyer DE60LF (diesel-electric hybrid articulated bus)

2002 Dyna Diesel Hybrid (Japan only, Diesel Hybrid)

2002 Honda Civic Hybrid 2003 model

Renault Kangoo (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle)

Suzuki Twin

Toyota Alphard Hybrid

Toyota Prius (5 seat midsize) 2004 model year, second generation Hybrid Synergy Drive

Honda Accord Hybrid 2005 model

Ford Escape Hybrid 2005 model (released in late summer 2004)

Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra Hybrid 2006 model, Mild hybrid

Honda Civic Hybrid 2006 model, second generation

Lexus RX 400h 2006 model year, second generation Hybrid Synergy Drive

Mercury Mariner hybrid

Toyota Kluger/Highlander Hybrid 2006 model

Lexus GS 450h 2007 model, second generation Hybrid Synergy Drive

Saturn VUE Green Line 2007 model, Mild hybrid

Toyota Camry Hybrid 2007 model, second generation Hybrid Synergy Drive

Toyota Estima/Previa hybrid minivan, second generation Hybrid Synergy Drive (Japanese market only)

Lexus LS600hL 2008 model Luxury car, expected to go on sale June 2007[2]

BMW 1-Series Luxury compact car, first in the world with standard mild hybrid technology, Auto Start Stop function, Brake Energy Regeneration, electric power steering, electric water pump[3][4]

Mazda Tribute hybrid, 2008 model, expected to go on sale July 2007

Chevrolet Tahoe (AHS II) (SUV, RWD/AWD) 2008 model, expected to go on sale Fall 2007

GMC Yukon Hybrid (AHS II) (SUV, RWD/AWD) 2008 model, expected to go on sale Fall 2007

Dodge Durango (AHS II) (SUV) 2008 model, expected to go on sale Fall 2007

Toyota Kluger/Highlander Hybrid 2008 model, second generation Hybrid Synergy Drive, will go on sale September 2007[5]

Audi Q7 2009 model

Cadillac Escalade (AHS II) 2009 model

Chevrolet Equinox (SUV)

Chevrolet Malibu (midsize car) 2009 model, Mild hybrid

Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid (AHS II) (fullsize pickup) 2009 model

Ford Fusion Hybrid (midsize car) 2009 model

GMC Sierra Hybrid (AHS II) (fullsize pickup) 2009 model

Lexus RX400h 2009 model refresh

Mercury Milan Hybrid (midsize car)

Saturn VUE Green Line (AHS II) (SUV, FWD) 2009 model, 45% improvement over non-hybrid version according to GM[6]

Toyota Sienna (minivan) 2009 model

Toyota Prius (5 seat midsize) 2009 model year, third generation Hybrid Synergy Drive (weight and cost reduced by 50%), Lithium-ion batteries[7]

VentureOne Three wheeled vehicle

Volvo C30 2009 model, diesel electric hybrid

Honda Unnamed next-generation compact hybrid, all-new, priced lower than Honda Civic Hybrid[8][9]

Mercedes-Benz S-Class Mild hybrid[10][11]

Porsche Cayenne[12]

Saturn VUE Green Line (AHS II) (SUV, FWD, 2010 model, PLUG-IN capable, Lithium-Ion batteries)

Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid

Toyota FT-HS Sports Hybrid[13]

Chevrolet Volt production version [14]

Nissan's original hybrid vehicle is targeted for launch in 2010.[15]

PSA Peugeot Citroën will market hybrid HDi vehicles from 2010.[16]

Toyota Camry Hybrid 2012 model, third generation Hybrid Synergy Drive[17]

Land Rover Range Rover Hybrid concept, diesel-electric engine (under development) in conjunction with new aluminum body

plus many buses, trucks, and cars still being planned or built.

Answer 11

E85 is a scam....it costs about 5% less than regular and is about 10-20% LESS efficient!

Ethanol is a welfare program for the farmers that will only result it higher food prices.

It takes 40% more energy to produce ethanol than it is capable of releasing.  

Only specially modified cars, mostly racing vehicles can run straight methanol.   The long term environmental data is still inconclusive.  It could be more harmful than regular gas.  In cities like LA if everyone was running it, your eyes would water and your lungs would burn.  It's not a pretty fuel to breath the exhaust from as any racer could tell you.

Answer 12

Since the year 2000, General Motors has been making ethanol-compatible (E85) cars.  They're the only ones that were doing it.   Now there are millions of E85 friendly cars and trucks on the road, almost all from GM, while the other automakers try to catch up.

Now if you're one of those people who only buys foreign cars, well, that's why you didn't know :-b

Alas, though, ethanol is not that great.   The US government admits they burn 1 gallon worth of fuel just trying to make 1.34 gallon's worth of ethanol.  It does cut down on foreign oil, but it's not very green.

Biodiesel is much much better for being green, the government says you burn 1 gallon of fuel to get 3.2 gallons of biodiesel.   That's a lot better.  Fortunately, diesels are making a big comeback, they're clean and fast, and they ALL can run biodiesel.  Once again, not a lot of innovation from the Japanese, the nice diesels are mostly coming from the U.S. and Europe.

A lot of people will moan "Oh, we're using food crops to make fuel."  Here biodiesel has another big advantage, the highest yielding crops tend to be non-food crops that grow in places food crops can't grow, the real winner looks to be algae, which has such a high yield it might be able to handle all our fuel needs!

Answer 13

the gasoline you buy at any pump is 10% ethanol, plus now GM is making a whole line of "Flex Fuel" cars that can run on regular gasoline or on E85 Ethanol which is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.

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a note for Blondie below: ethanol does release many polutants and green-house gasses, the move toward ethanol is motivated more by the fact that we can make it here in the USA than by environmental concerns, although it is slightly cleaner it does release quite a bit of polution back into the air.

Answer 14

Most gasoline sold these days is 10% ethanol. It’s not as green as you might think. Politicians are pushing for it because most of the ethanol is made from corn, most of the corn is grown in Iowa, and people in Iowa have great political pull. I will try to find a link for you.

Answer 15

... I havnt seen very much ethanol either... there are cars that can run on it, but by no means are they the majority. I think alot of the cars that can run on it are made taht way after it is bought. Not positive though.

and ethanol burns cleaner is made from renewable resources.

Answer 16

Most all new vehicles burn ethanol or flex fuels. If you drive a vehicle within the last decade you can burn ethanol with no problem. Start burning at a 50/50 ratio at first. Myself, i have never had a problem switching from one to another in the past 15 years!

I have to disagree with the poster who said ethanol emits alot greenhouse gases.  It does  have some pollutants BUT it is far less than what is in petro products

It is a much better alternative fuel for the environment as well as weening us from foreign oil

If you want to know more about Ethanol read this study

It actually reduces greenhouse gases up to 60%

Answer 17

Chrysler Sebring uses E85.  We are not all making ethanol.  Factories are planned, but are not going up in NW OH.  Some people wonder how the use of corn will affect supply for other uses.  Hopefully, ethanol, maybe made of something else (cane plant?) will make us more energy independent.  Watch for more vehicles in 2008, which use ethanol, or are otherwise more efficient.