Foods?

Wow. I Haven't viewed this thread in a while. It was slowing down for a bit there. I was watching an ethanol discussion at UCSD and it is very interesting what they are planning on doing in the future. Although I really believe that BEVs are going to be the best solution, PHEVs that run on biofuels can help us get there. And although I support ethanol, I have stopped running it in my car, at least temporarily, because my car seemed to run choppier with E85. I am going to try a new conversion kit, which will hopefully make my car run as smooth as gas on E85 and get me better fuel consumption.

I would like to suggest you try perhaps E70 or E50, or even the more popular, E30.
Just mix your own as best you can.

It does not surprise me that every car doesn't run perfectly on E85.
I feel strongly that every car on the road ( electronically controlled ) will do really well with E30 and the MPG will be close to that of gas. In most cases, you need no modifications at all to run E30.

-John

After reading thru this thread, and all the external links and info I could find, I am going to try E30(ish) in our van and truck. Right now I am working on a quick "calculator" application for my phone to help me figure out the mix (E10/E85) and the equivalent price per mile based upon the pump price at the time...

Jeff Jones

2006 FWD FEH,
hopefully one day to be a PHEV (pet project)

Good for you! I did almost the same using a spreadsheet.
I printed the spreadsheet and put a copy under my sun visor.

In the mid-west you might find ethanol as lower cost ( per mile ) than gas.
The farther you are away from the corn belt, it gets more expensive.

Bottom line, it will be very close to the cost per mile of gas.
It may cost you a penny more, or a penny less, so cost should not be your #1 motivation.

For a long time around here is was pretty cheap, and honestly I had not noticed the price in about a month - looked at our local station this AM, $2.98/g... wow, when did that happen? I paid $3.19/g for E10 at the same station. So I am hoping I see close to the same mileage from the E30 vs the E10 we have been running, but cost wise, I am not expecting much savings or additional expense.

Will keep you posted!

Jeff Jones

2006 FWD FEH,
hopefully one day to be a PHEV (pet project)

^ According to what we have found, E30 should get you BETTER FE than E10.

I am only 100 miles into my first tank of E30 on my FEH, and so far have noticed NO difference in drive-ability or FE with E30 vs E10. I have read elsewhere (can't find the link right now - will try to link later) that a State of Texas study has found lower emissions with vehicles using E20 vs E10, and they are pushing (incentives) stations to install blender pumps with E10 / E20 / E85 / (and B20 I believe?).

We don't drive the van often, so I will have to report back later on it.

Jeff Jones

2006 FWD FEH,
hopefully one day to be a PHEV (pet project)

Study by Minnesota State University says you can run a PriusI ( THS ) on E85 without any modifications, if you don't mind seeing a check engine light.
http://www.greenenergynetwork.com/me.../prius-e85.PDF

Highlights:

Cold starts on E85 produce slightly higher emissions, however emissions on a warm or hot engine are reduced to almost below detectable limits, more than compensating for the cold start. ( provided you do more than only cold starts every day! )

Dynomometer testing shows increased horsepower and torque:

89 Octane Gas = 65bhp @ 4500 RPM and 80 ft.-lb. torque

E85 ethanol = 77bhp @ 4700 RPM and 106 ft.-lb. torque

Since the Toyota traction control will not let the front wheels spin beyond 19 miles per hour with the rear wheels stationary, the traction control was disabled, as well as electric assist, so all horspower can be assured to have come from fuel only, and none came from the electric motor(s).

Good article. Thanks.