This might have already been asked, but I can't find it right now.
I live in Minnesota where we have a mandate of 10% ethanol in all gasoline sold in the state. I know that Ford and all the other manufacturers have said that E10 won't be too big a deal and won't ruin the engine.
However, in 2012 Minnesota will switch to a 20% ethanol blend. I certainly plan on stil having my 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid at that point, so I was wondering if anyone knew of any issues this might bring up besides a decrease in MPG, ie engine degradation? Or should I call Ford to see about this? Luckily, I live about 20 miles from Wisconsin which won't have this requirement, and if it voids my warranty I'd just slip across the border.
Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

Hi Mary,

I'd like to think that the MN government has done their homework and has found that all existing cars on the road can safely run on e20 without any sort of fuel system conversion. But then again, we are talking about government! You might want to raise this issue with your local congressperson.

If there's a gas station in Wisconsin that's 20 miles away from you and isn't blended with ethanol at all, I would recommend trying a tank or two of it! I drive a little way out of my way to get 100% gasoline and it has provided some much better mpg recently.

 

The corn belt states and many Univerisities have done studies that E30, or 30% ethanol will not harm any car on the road. In fact, at 30%, some smaller, higher compression engines like sports cars actually saw an improvement in MPG vs. traditional gasoline! ( they were japanese cars, but I can't remember if they were Nissans, Toyotas, or Hondas... but the little cars did great on E30... )

I'm sure you will be fine with E20.
While pure gas may be a little out of your way... and I will agree you will get maybe 3 MPG more with it... remember, gasoline creates more harmful emissions and more green-house gases. Ethanol creates zero green-house gas, since the plant matter ( likely corn ) took 5x more carbon dioxide OUT of the atmosphere, then burning it in your car puts back in.

-John

P.S. for the record... I get 37 MPG with E10.

 

John,

I get what you're saying but if e0 releases 10% more emissions but I get 15% better mileage on it, the net result is I'm putting 5% less emissions into the air, right?

 

Not exactly.

Gasoline contains toxic chemicals.
You can drink ethanol before you mix it with gas.

Plus, due to a type of "synergy", 10% ethanol actually reduces emissions of the gasoline part by 29%.

 

I'd trust those studies more if they WEREN'T from the (vested insterest) corn-belt states.

Also, I thought all cars got poorer fuel economy with more ethanol in the mix. Maybe high-compression engines are an exception.

 

Last I read about this anything above E15 and the manufactures won't warranty your car anymore unless it is a flex fuel car. You will net less MPG with ethanol of any amount since ethanol has less BTU than gasoline but that is with current engines. It does clean up the emissions of gasoline as it causes the mixture to burn more completely. Supposedly there is an engine someone developed (HCCI possibly?) that mixes pure ethanol from a different tank/injector that can greatly increase fuel efficiency. I'll let the engineers talk to that one, something to do with compression ratios and thermal properties.

The only issue I have with ethanol personally is how the domestics are using it to lower their CAFE in making flex fuel vehicles even though a small percentage of these vehicles actually see any E85. I live in Dallas and I've actually seen at least one or two vehicles a week that have the flex fuel badge (Chevy Impalas mainly) on them but have yet to see a E85 pump! Trust me I was really happy when MTBE was essentially banished and ethanol replacing it. If there is to be any credit for E85 then there should be a mandate that all stations have at least one E85 pump. Heck get rid of mid grade to make space for it.

 

The Governor of Minnesota just signed a bill called "E85 Everywhere," which will provide grants to put more E85 pumps out there. It's the law that all new state-owned vehicles must be flex fuel. You can only buy biodiesel here, despite the fact that the cold causes the bio part to freeze, so that makes a lot of sense in Minnesota.
During the discussions before passage of the E20 bill, a few people brought up the issue of warranties, but the people who wanted the mandate pretty much ran roughshod over those concerns. A provision was in the bill that forced manufacturers to cover up to E20 in the warranties, but that was stripped out at the end.
Guess I'll call Ford to see what to do because, living in a corn state, they will never reduce the ethanol content in fuel.