Say what you will about America's energy issues but E85 is arguably the alternative automobile fuel of the future. With plenty of false starts from Grassolean's do-it-yourself bio- diesel, the fragile futility of small-scale solar cells and crazies trying their hand at cold fusion, the 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent petrol mix known as E85 is making renewable energy a reality.
Available at five stations on the west side, E85 costs about $2.86 per gallon and unlike DIY-ers, Daryl Hannah and her celebrity cooking-oil crew with their retrofitted vintage vehicles, an extensive catalog of contemporary cars can handle the concoction. With models from the major makers such as General Motors, Ford, Nissan and Chrysler already able to accommodate E85, even luxury outfits are getting in on the game with Mercedes' C320 sport series and C240 luxury sedans renewable- fuel-ready since 2003.
It all seems so simple now that the infrastructure is in place, but getting E85 onto the open market has been in the works since the '70s. Conservationists have long been touting ethanol blends and flex-fuel vehicles as a cure-all for our excess emissions, but cost-conscious consumers weren't buying into the often inconvenient, more expensive and less efficient E85. Cue the petroleum price spike above three bucks a gallon and even the least ecologically concerned motorists are giving up their gas-guzzling ways.
Today E85 is on par with regular unleaded prices, available at your friendly neighborhood station and higher octane than gasoline lending to a 5 percent increase in power, though the miles per gallon are slightly lower. Made from the fermented sugars of renewable resources such as feed grain and post-consumer waste such as paper, ethanol offers independence from foreign oil and a boon for domestic agriculture and disposal management.
The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition has a handy website that helps determine if your current vehicle is E85 ready with just eight digits of your VIN number and includes a listing of nearby stations. Along with an extensive discussion of ethanol's (mostly) pros and (just a few) cons, E85fuel.com endeavors to enlist supporters, enthusiasts and all-important fueling-station owners to champion their cause. Whether your concerns are ecological or economic, E85 is the solution.
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