I've gone through a couple tanks of E85 in my '07 5.4 FFV and get about 3 mpg less than with regular unleaded gasoline. The E85 costs 30 cents less per gallon. I just did some math and find it's costing me 1.1 cents more per mile when I use E85. The E85 would need to be priced 45 cents cheaper per gallon than regular to break even. Anyone else get about the same mpg difference between these fuels?

I still like the idea of burning home grown fuel, even if it costs a little more.

 

And there's the danger. E85 is a joke and the greatest scam of the century. You've proven one fault with it (MPG). Do a little more research on its lack of benefits to the real, intended consumers and I'm sure, like others, you come to HATE the idea of E85.

 

I think the only real benefit from using E85 relates to a reduction in green house gases or maybe it's just carbon dioxide. It's surely not a way to save money.

 

That's why E85 was developed. If and when E85 is produced in larger volumes and has a wider distribution network, the price should go down.

Unfortunately, there is also a loss of power using E85. Maybe that's one of the reasons Ford is developing a diesel engine for '09.

 

There is a lot of problems with e85 if you look at the big picture.

Right now it takes about 1 gallon of gasoline equivalent energy to produce 1-1.5 gallons of Ethanol, industry average. Ethanol contains 30-40% less energy than Gasoline. It's price is 30 cents lower than gasoline because there is no highway tax on it AND everything down to the farmer is subsidized. E85 makes no sense on todays technology because you could turn the planet into a corn field and you still couldn't grow enough to power the world. We don't even make enough to blend it as E10 and B20 for this country as it is. FFV's only really exist to inflate the CAFE scores for the big 3.(which is why all of their trucks and only a few of their cars have ffv options...)

You are using a gasoline engine that runs on 87 octane that allows the use of 110 octane E85. Obviously, more power and efficiently could be had if ran e85 only by wasting less of the heat energy through higher compression and timing at least. That can't happen because 99.9% of gas stations in this country don't carry ethanol. E85 is a farce and ethanol production should be devoted to blends, not inefficient cars.

 

Not to mention that the price of every thing else corn related is also going up even for those of us who don't use E85, and with out the gov't funding it, E85 would disappear, due to to being useless. What I mean by driving up prices has any one been to the grocery store lately, meat, milk, any thing made form animal that uses corn feed has gone up due to this E85. So hopefully the gov't decides to fund something else before our whole economy goes down hill. As far as E85 goes there are a lot better things with more potential energy than corn, we could use. But do to our gov't being stupid and the farmer’s lobbyists we'll be stuck with this corn E85 for awhile.<o></o>

 

Corn prices are going to crash (just wait and see) when mainstream cellulosic ethanol is devolved. You could just just about any plant in existence to make ethanol then. There are some small woody plants that grow with very little minerals and a very rapid rate that would be far more efficient than corn. Hell with cellulosic ethanol, corn would be more efficient because of all of the plant will be used, not just the corn.

But even with this ethanol process, you still can not grow enough bio mass to power the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulosic_ethanol

 

Actually E85 was developed to create subsidies and buy votes in mid-western farming states.

 

I agree with you Silentst2000, that's the point I was getting at we need to switch to the method you have described, but this technology has been around for awhile. Why haven't they switched to it.

 

I have burned a few tanks of E85 in my King Ranch. I noted fuel mileage went down and my perceived power went down a little. Did the math and there was no benefit over regular.

I guess it boils down to who you want your money to go to. Big business and maybe farmers in the USA or to oil rich countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq or Venezuela. None of those countries are friendly to the USA. Sooo...

 

I agree with everyones comments. Cars are not made to run on it otherwise it could be a real good thing. Engineers must comprise engine performance on E85 to maintain Gasoline performance. (110 octane, imagine the possibilities.) Gov't using E85 program for the farmers, yep, Mom and Pop corn farmers can sell there crops way ahead of time and avoid any losses the market may take in the fall. I realize that this can work the other way too. but call it insurance. you may not get a windfall if the market goes up, but you definitely do not lose if the grain markets crash. I am in Central Illinois, E85 here is 1.99 gallon. Gasoline is 3.07. Unfortunately, my truck is not a FFV. Right now, I wish it was, Even at a 3 MPG loss, I would still come out ahead. As technology evolves, we will learn to make ethanol with less energy, thus, making it truly economical to produce and use. We are so stuck on gasoline that we can't see the clean air through the cornfields and soybean fields. I am not a tree hugger, I use gas in every yard grooming tool I have. I don't like working with electric. (I Hate extension cords everywhere). I don't drive electric cars or ever want one. Internal combustion engines, inefficient as they are, still have more bang for the buck than their electric cousins. The other thing is, Electric cars have to get more energy from somewhere. The U.S., if converted to electric transportation, would need 3 times more power plants than we have now. So now we would be digging deeper and more often for all that coal, and electricity will not power a D11 Dozer or giant Drag line. OR, more nuclear plants that the waste has to be buried or shot into space to get rid of it.

I don't know what i would want to happen. Lets all go diesel. we can use the soybeans, less emmissions from electronic controlled diesel engines, Low C0 and NOX emissions. Biodiesel is easy to make. and soybean oil is plentiful.

Just my .02, and my opinion and mine only.

 

I use E85 all of the time. I drive mostly highway, and figure if E85 is $0.25
cheaper I break even. Right now gas is $3.09 and E85 is $2.49. I am comming out way ahead, and on my Monday-Friday commute to work I don't need 300hp. As far as helping farmers I don't mind, my grandpa, uncles, and cousins all farm. My dad hauled fuel to farmers and I worked for many farmers growing up. Farmers paid my way threw school to help me get to where I am today. I would much rather pay a little more for a can of corn and help a farmer than pay for 911 and the war.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...g-results.html

The cost/mile just isn't there yet for me (we pay more in the south for E85 than you guys in the mid west). But I agree with Fishin76, technology will eventually catch up with ethanol and make it cheaper. Until then, I'm staying away from the yellow pump.