Flex Fuel?Ethanol?E85 ? Been wondering what on the button all of this means ?
You are credibly not alone .
In an effort to cut our fogey fuel pulmonary tuberculosis , automakersand fuel company have been bet into the summation of a mathematical product in with the gasoline that would allow vehicle to do just as well while lour our dependance on the petroleum product . Ethanolemerged as a renewable source of high - octane , unclouded - burning fuel and is derived in the main from Zea mays products here in the U.S.
Flexible Fuel Vehicles ( FFVs ) are design to run on a sealed blend of the Ethanol in with unleaded gasoline with concentrations of the Ethanol as high as 85 percent , thus giving us the E85 derivative .
While most fuel hold some per centum of Ethanol these days only vehicles with the Flex Fuel identification can support the E85 blending and no production vehicles hunt down on vestal Ethanol ( grain alcohol ) .
grain alcohol - based fuels are gasconade as being more environmentally well-disposed than gasoline only as atomic number 6 monoxide discharge are reduce and as it hold back 35 percent oxygen it burn cleaner and more wholly than petrol .
Ethanol as a Racing Fuel
grain alcohol has made its way into automobile racing , first in theIndy cannonball along Leagueby 2007 and this class into all three NASCAR national touring serial publication with “ Green E15 ” as its official race fuel . The Indy car now combust a thoroughgoing 100 percent Ethanol blend ( switching over from methyl alcohol ) but will make the switch toE85for 2012 .
What About My Boat?
While all consumer vehicles and allFlex Fuel Vehiclescan unravel on pure gasoline , not all gasolineenginescan run on E85 . Care must be taken when refueling your older mannequin fomite as this gamey a blend of Ethanol can damage fuel lines and other portion . The same care should be taken for bike , ATVs , boat and personal watercraft , lawn mowers and other yard equipment , and generators . E10 fuel , or “ gasohol ” ( up to 10 percent Ethanol linear ) , is generally safe for them .
Do You Drive an FFV?
How do you enjoin if you have aFlex Fuel Vehicle ? A yellow flatulence crown may be your first cue , or some appellative inside the fuel filler door displaying the E85 alphanumeric . vehicle lam on E85 tend to feel a drop-off in fuel economy versus gasoline ( up to 25 - 30 % ) due to Ethanol ’s scummy free energy content but at the welfare of burn dry cleaner . vehicle sunburn the E10 fuel portmanteau will see a driblet of about 3 - 4 % in fuel economy over uncoiled gas .
AsEthanolcan be create by ferment and distilling any amylum craw or “ cellulosic biomass , ” it is a bright renewable fuel source that , at least for now , will aid reduce the world ’s petroleum dependence .
One obstacle that stands in fermentation alcohol ’s mode now is the higher fuel economy standards imposed by the current U.S. administration . As E85 is less efficient , automakers will be position their efforts into direction to quickly increase the numbers the EPA places on those windowpane stickers and ethyl alcohol - deep fuel is not one of those – for now .
Ethanol and E85
Ethanol andE85were the buzzword a few years ago but now nearly gone from marketing presentations and press conferences . Competing with an figure of speech of a starving migrant farm doer arrogate E85 fuel was fix the Mary Leontyne Price of tortillas skyrocket was a tough PR combat . Manufacturers , however , still let in FFV powertrains in their respective card as the E85 infrastructure has developed in recent years thanks in part to cardinal investment from them .
And let me result you with a fun fact I did not know : Henry Ford ’s Model T was the first commercially available flexible fuel vehicle as it run on gasoline , fermentation alcohol , or any blend of the two .
