did you know buying a E85 is NOT cost effective?

Question

The premium you pay for a car that runs on E85 is more than you will save in fuel costs for the life of the car. It is cheaper just to run gas. (comparing for example Civic gas vs. hybrid at current fuel prices). I guess you have to decide how much the environmental trade-off is worth to you. Any thoughts?

Do fed tax breaks or employer incentives change that?

Answer 1

wait i thought you said E85 vehicle? a civic hybrid is not an E85 vehicle, not by any means, it is an electric hybrid vehicle that is driven by a gasoline engine and an electric motor, and despite what the greenpeace freaks want to think you are absolutly correct, they are not worth it by any stretch of the imagination, did you factor into your consideration the price of replacement batterys every 5-7yrs at several thousands of dollars for new batterys? that really throws it way out of the affordable range, now an E85 vehicle on the other hand requires very few modifactions, different fuel pump, different injectors, and a fuel sensor to detect the type of fuel being used so that you can use regular fuel or E85, its a very inexpensive option, so, some things to consider

Answer 2

2 issues, 1. E85 has a higher octane rating than E10 or non-alcohol enhanced gasoline, which means that you need to have your timing tuned to the slower burning fuel. Also E85 does not have the same energy content as E10. See the citation below for an explanation about octane but the quick and dirty is that the higher the octane rating the less explosive the fuel is. 2. High alcohol concentrations can cause some rubbers, plastics and certain metals to corrode and actually disolve. This happened in the early days of E10 when certain rubber fuel lines would literally disolve. It can also affect the magnesium and aluminum parts of your car. So in a car less than 20 years old you probably need a different computer chip, some tuning changes and make sure that none of your parts will disolve in E85. If your car is older than 20 years forget E85 and apply for collector plates.

Answer 3

I guess the premium is dependent on how many units are sold. This is where goverment regulation can effect the market, in effect increasing the number of units sold and reducing the unit price.

Good point about the personal decision. Some will pay the price knowing that they are reducing emissions to some extent.

Answer 4

Same thing with diesel trucks, the engines are so incredibly expensive that it takes a couple if dundred thousand miles to get the cost back in fuel economy.