Green Driving

Is an Ethanol Vehicle Right for You? There are approximately nine million “flex-fuel” vehicles on U.S. roads capable of burning high blends of ethanol, such as E85 (an 85 percent blend of ethanol to gasoline).   The reason that E85 ethanol cars are called flex-fuel is because they can run on ethanol blends or regular ol’ gasoline.  In fact, most of these vehicles never see a drop of E85.  The consideration to purchase any specific E...

After a difficult year capped by the expiration of a controversial $0.45 per gallon federal subsidy, the ethanol industry finally has something to crow about. According to a new study by economists at the University of Wisconsin and Iowa State, the presence of ethanol in the American fuel supply saved drivers an average of $1.09 last year. Average savings rose $0.20 per gallon over 2010 levels, as oil prices went up, ethanol got cheaper, and a higher portion of gas station...

There are nine million “flex-fuel” vehicles on the road capable of burning strong blends of ethanol, specifically E85—a mixture of 85-percent ethanol and 15-percent gasoline. That number could get much larger if the bipartisan Open Fuels Standard Act, introduced by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) is approved. It would require 80 percent of gasoline-burning cars and trucks sold in the U.S. by 2018 to be compatible with both E85 ethanol and a 7...

Ethanol can be sold either as a blended additive in conventional gasoline or as the central ingredient in E85, an 85-percent ethanol and 15-percent gasoline mix.   E85 can only be used in so-called flexible-fuel vehicles, which run on either gasoline or high-ethanol blends. This year, the three major American automakers are poised to deliver on a 2008 pledge to make 50 percent of their vehicles E85-capable by 2012. That means a lot more flex-fuel vehicles o...