While gasoline prices this spring continue to climb towards $3 a gallon, owners of flex-fuel cars are beginning to take advantage of something better. They are discovering cheaper E85 flex-fuel.
Made from 85 percent ethanol and just 15 percent gasoline, the fuel known as E85 has become the better bargain for thousands of Michigan motorists looking to fill up. Those are the motorists who own the many flex-fuel capable vehicles now driving on area roads.
General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have delivered millions of flex-fuel cars over the last decade, but until now, only a small percentage of owners bought flex-fuel. In prior years, the cost of flex-fuel was usually near or above the price of gasoline, so it didn’t make economic sense to buy E85 from a strictly dollars and cents perspective.
The economics changed about two months ago, when the good news of last year’s bumper corn crop collided with increased petroleum demand. Gasoline prices began to rise, and ethanol prices began to fall.
The result?
It’s now far cheaper to fill up on E85. And flex-fuel car owners are loving it.
This week, gasoline prices averaged $2.87 a gallon in Michigan, while E85’s average pump price was just $2.30, according to the website http://e85prices.com. It's now a better deal to use E85.
Today, at a Shell Station on South Waverly Road in Lansing, a young woman in a 2007 Chevrolet Impala stopped to fill with E85 for the very first time.
“I didn’t even think about it until today, when I saw the sign,” the unidentified woman said. “I’ve had this car for a year, and have never tried it before, until today.”
She topped off her blue Impala with E85 at just $2.29 a gallon.
“We’ll see how it works out,” she said.
The Lansing area woman is not alone in not using E85 before. Many owners of flex-fuel cars haven’t tried ethanol, mostly because either it was hard to find, or because the price didn’t make economic sense. Until now, that is.
Automobiles operating on E85 usually get about 12 to 15 percent fewer miles per gallon, due to the lower energy content of ethanol. But now, with E85 priced as much as 23 percent lower than gasoline, E85 becomes the better economic deal.
Gasoline has climbed more than 30 cents a gallon since February, while E85 prices have remained steady, or fallen.
For the young lady’s Impala, her 24 MPG on gasoline, and 21 MPG on E85, means she’ll pay just 10.9 cents a mile driving cleaner E85 fuel, rather than 12 cents a mile on gas. It’s cheaper for her to burn E85.
The good news for flex-fuel car owners is that ethanol prices should remain low and steady all summer, even as the price of gasoline is expected to continue to rise.
There are 111 Michigan gas stations currently selling E85 fuel, and tax incentives and grants available for Gas Station owners in Michigan who want to convert an existing pump to sell E85.
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Locations of E85 stations in Michigan:
http://e85prices.com/michigan.html
information on Biofuel Infrastructure grants and tax credits for gas stations:
http://tinyurl.com/MichiganE85grants
Comments
I like the fuel, even when before it was more expensive. The exhaust has a different smell. When backing up sometimes you can get a whiff of sweet pleasant odor. Filling up you will experience little of the normal gasoline vapor stink and the fuel has appearance of water. A little disconcerting at first. Water doesn't burn good (smile). My engine has more pep on E85. Something to guard against as you will find yourself driving more aggressive or enjoying yourself at an expense of fuel mileage. The engine has a smoother sound and will be more responsive.
My area only has one E85 pump so my fueling flips around a lot. Always a good comparison of fuels. My first choice would always be E85. My experience for a couple years now.
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