E85: Flex-Fuel Vehicles

Are they corny?

James M. Flammang / autoMedia.com

Nearly five million alternative-fuel vehicles are currently on U.S. roads—and many of their owners don't even know it. Flexible-fuel (flex-fuel) models first appeared in 1991. Since then, each of the Big 3 domestic automakers has manufactured about 1.5 million flex-fuel cars, and hundreds of thousands more are expected to arrive by the end of 2006. A flex-fuel vehicle, or FFV, is a vehicle that is capable of running on either gasoline or E85, which is a blend of 85-percent ethanol and 15-percent gasoline. The idea of such vehicles is not a new one; Henry Ford designed his Model T to operate solely on ethyl alcohol, also known as ethanol. All current vehicles can accept fuel containing up to 10-percent ethanol.

Availability

Ethanol can be manufactured from various sources, but "corn is king," according to Phillip Lampert, executive director of the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition. Ethanol production is therefore strongest in the upper Midwest region of the United States. "That's where our political support is," Lampert adds. Clean Air Choice, a clean fuel program from the American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest, estimates that a bushel of field corn can be processed into at least 2.7 gallons of ethanol.

Partly motivated by fuel-economy credits from the federal government, automakers have decided to make certain engines of specific car models operational on both fuel types as a no-cost option. In most cases, either the salesperson fails to explain, or the buyer overlooks the flex-fuel feature. "Probably the vast majority of drivers don't know they have a flex-fuel vehicle," Lampert says. GM intends to put special labeling on upcoming flex-fuel models, though mostly they look and behave like regular vehicles.

Benefits

Ethanol advocates emphasize that using E85 results in decreased reliance on imported oil, reduced environmental pollution, and a lower negative impact on the public's health. Lampert adds that ethanol is 100-percent renewable and non-carcinogenic. At the same time, production is 100-percent domestic. "Absolutely without doubt," the use of ethanol enhances America's energy security, says DaimlerChrysler spokesperson Nick Cappa. "Also, it helps farmers."

E85 has a substantially higher octane rating than today's gasoline, which means improved performance by way of greater horsepower. Clean Air Choice reports that E85 has the highest oxygen content of all available fuels, so it burns more fully. Its use can result in a nearly 30-percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA claims that making the switch from gasoline to ethanol blends can lower the environment's carbon monoxide levels by as much as 40 percent, and smog-forming pollutants by 15 percent.