how is the ethanol gas better than regular gas.. is it cheaper?

Answer 1

Ethanol is generally cheaper to produce and cheaper to buy.
Ethanol produces less power and you will get less fuel mileage in most vehicles. Current flex fuel model vehicles are tuned to use gasoline as the primary fuel. I feel the power and fuel mileage will increase as they are eventually tuned to use ethanol as the primary fuel as ethanol has higher octane.
Ethanol use reduces dependency on foreign oil.
Not all vehicles are compatible with ethanol. Corrosive to materials used in the fuel systems of older cars.

Answer 2

Here's the correct answer. Ethanol blended gasoline really isn't BETTER than normally refined gas; its main "benefit" is that it burns cleaner and theoretically produces less harmful exhaust emissions.
Currently most brands of gas offer a 10% ethanol blended gas and have for some time. It's priced the same as normal gas.

Depending on where you live, the new "E85" type of gas will be a lot more expensive, and hard to find, at least for now. This is a fuel with a lot more ethanol in it, and most cars on the roaad today can't use it as it will damage the engine. The auto makers are just now comng out with engines that will handle the E85 gas.

A problem with ethanol blended fuel is that the ethanol is destructive to anything rubber...hoses, valve seals, etc. and therefore isn't recommended on older cars, especially vintage ones that have rubber fuel lines...unless you want to change out the fuel lines every year, or replace them with metal ones. Modern vehicles are now working around this with fuel lines and fuel delivery systems made out of stronger materials.

I personally don't use ethanol blends unless I have to, because the ethanol's potentially bad for the car, and the emissions aren't really that much different. It's not so much a "save the environment" fuel; it's more of a "Wean us from oil and also make the farm lobbyists and tree huggers happy" thing.

Hope this info helped.

Answer 3

Ford has been producing Flex-Fuel vehicles since 1995 & I have been selling cars since 1983. Ethanol fuel is not new. Your question is much more complicated than it seems, but I'll try to answer it. Much of the U.S. fuel is blended with up to 10% ethanol, it is less toxic, and better for the environment than previously used blending agents. also all vehicles here can safely use the 10% blend. American auto manufacturers {Ford-1985,Chrysler-1998, and GM-2000} started producing vehicles that can use E85, which is a fuel consisting of 85% ethanol & 15% gasoline. The use of this fuel is better for the environment, it helps decrease our country's dependancy on foreign oil, it is renewable, it is good for OUR economy and OUR national security. most of our ethanol comes from the corn grown in the midwest. Ethanol can be produced from other agriculteral sorces. The 2nd part of your ? is also not an easy answer.. if you live in the midwest you are likely to find E85 fuel locally,to put in your Flex Fuel vehicle. But it is not as readily available in other parts of the country YET. In the last year, Illinois has gone from only 12 gas stations offering E85 , to over 120. Is it cheaper? usually yes. However the price of E85 flucuates, just like the price of gasoline, and the price will vary from gas station to gas station.....also the m.p.g. is decreased. There are , however both federal & state tax incentives that could offset the mileage per gallon decrease.....but you have to know how to take advantage of these. My personal experiance; driving a 2005 Ford Explorer, I lost 1 mile per gallon useing E85 as opposed to regular unleaded gasoline. Many Explorers are Flex-Fuel Vehicles. If you don't know how to tell if your vehicle is Flex-Fuel.. the easiest way to tell is by looking at the inside of your fuel filler door. Don't laugh ..many people are already driving flex-fuel vehicles and don't even know it!!! Heres another clue ...look at your vehicle identification number... the 8th character is the engine code...on an Explorer, {also Mercury Mountainer & Explorer Sport-Trac} if the 8th character is K .... it IS a flex-fuel vehicle. Taurus & Sable ...8th character 2 denotes flex-fuel .....Ranger & Mazda pickups...8th character V .....2006 F-series pick-up [best selling vehicle in the U.S. for the last 29 years] 8th character V. Now I'm starting to ramble on & on , so I hope I've helped answer your question..

Answer 4

With a 10% ethanol blend you get about 5 to 10% worse MPG and pay about $0.25 more per gallon. Doesn't sound like it works to me.