e85

Is ethanol for real as an automotive fuel? Or is it just a mirage propped up by the federal fuel economy credits that automakers get by building vehicles that can burn the stuff?

That issue will play out after 2016, as CAFE credits for ethanol phase out, says Mike Omotoso, an analyst at J.D. Power and Associates.

Speaking last week at a conference of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Omotoso said he expects production of so-called flex-fuel vehicles--capable of using either gasoline or E85 ethanol--to dwindle.

CAFE credits for flex-fuel vehicles will be allowed up to the … Read more

Updated to add comments from General Motors.

The first batch of General Motors' Chevy Volt 2011 plug-in hybrid cars will not be compatible to run E85, a blend of gas and ethanol.

Tom Stephens, GM's vice chair for global product development, called for more government support of ethanol and a need for more E85 stations during his Tuesday speech at the Renewable Fuels Association conference in Florida. Stephens mentioned that early editions of the 2011 Chevy Volt may not be E85 compatible, several news outlets have reported.

Tony Posawatz, vehicle line director for the Chevy Volt, confirmed the same … Read more

Facing a glut of ethanol and few buyers, Growth Energy, an organization that represents several ethanol producers, petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to increase the amount of ethanol that can be blended into gasoline, according to an article U.S. News and World Report.

The current blending limit is 10 percent, and ethanol advocates are asking the EPA to allow blends up to 15 percent. The EPA has 270 days to respond to the request.

But automakers are pushing back, arguing that further study is needed to understand how engines will perform at a higher blend. High concentrations of ethanol … Read more

The price of gasoline may have gone down for now, taking sales of hybrid vehicles with it. But the CAFE rule that mandates auto manufactures average 35 mpg for their fleet of vehicles still applies, meaning more vehicles are being offered with an alternative fuel-capable engine.

At the Chicago Auto Show, GM is displaying 15 of its 20 vehicles available with E85-capable (85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline) powertrains. Chrysler and Ford have also trotted out an impressive lineup of flex fuel-capable cars.… Read more

Many in the auto industry are touting ethanol as the solution to the challenge of post-petroleum transportation. Major carmakers advertise many new cars can run on E85--a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline--and they trumpet the fuels environmental benefits relative to gasoline. But the ethanol story is not as straightforward as it sounds. Aside from the lack of infrastructure--only around 1,400 out of 170,000 U.S. filling stations have ethanol available--the production of ethanol from corn has drawn criticism for its cost (in terms of food-stocks and land usage) and the relative inefficiency of the … Read more

Comedian Jay Leno is known for his coveted collection of performance cars, but here is one Leno's babies that had eyebrows raising all over the SEMA show here in Las Vegas. This Pratt & Miller-designed road rocket come with an 8.2-liter engine--that's 1.2-liters more displacement than the "regular" competition Corvette CR.6 on which it's based. Not only is it equipped with a T-56 six-speed transmission, Arvin Meritor dynamic ride control suspension, and a K&N air filter with carbon-fiber ram air induction, it also has a Dewitt high-capacity aluminum radiator with … Read more