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There is much political and media activity about the automobile, its effect on our environment, and what should be done about it. Most of the focus of this activity is on atmospheric pollution and the most publicized solution is hybrid private automobiles. The most publicized hybrid vehicles run on a combination of gasoline and battery power, with the gasoline engine, coasting, and braking charging the battery. However, a much larger effort is being made to move vehicles to other combustion fuels that will reduce emissions by over 50 percent with minor or no extra cost to the consumer. In fact, vehicles that can run on 85 percent ethanol are already on the market and are being sold in Duluth. But, you ask, how can anybody use those cars because no gas stations in Duluth sell 85 percent ethanol? True, but the beauty of these vehicles is that they have flexible-fuel engines. They can run on 85 percent ethanol (E85) or regular unleaded gasoline or any mix of the two. The vehicle’s computer detects the mixture and adjusts the engine accordingly. Currently the Ford Ranger 4x4 and the basic Ford Taurus come standard with 3.0 liter flexible fuel engines. Other available flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) include the Chrysler-Dodge-Plymouth minivans with a 3.3 liter engine, GM S-10 and Sonoma pickups with a 2.2 liter engine, and the Mazda B-3100 pickup trucks with a 3.0 liter engine. See http://www.chrysler.com/flexfuel/ and http://www.gm.com/automotive/innovations/altfuel/vehicles/, but Mazda has no specific FFV page. Dan Welshinger, a salesman at Benna Ford in Superior, says that 90 percent of the Rangers that they sell are FFVs. Jim Patrick, Fleet Manager at North Star Ford says that they sell 30-40 Flex-Fuel Rangers a month, but fewer Taurus models. He would like to know where his customers can get E85. The bad news is that the closest stations selling E85 will be in Cambridge and Carlton, and not until Fall 2000. Until then, the closest station is in Forest Lake. The good news, for those who travel to the Twin Cities frequently, is that there are probably 20 stations in the metro area selling E85. Look for the big E85 logo. Or look for the list at http://www.mncorn.org (August 9, 2007 update: list not at this site, try "Clean Air ™ - E85 Stations" for the six-state area - Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa). Koch Refining produces half of the gasoline used in Minnesota and does produce E85. Mike Hansel, Director of Strategic Planning and Analysis, says they are working with their distributors to meet demand. So far the demand is small but he sees it growing. Bruce Anthony, Environmental Manager, Holiday Companies, says that the sales of E85 are growing but they are not a money maker yet. He has no surveys of customer acceptance of E85 which currently sells at the same price as unleaded gasoline. He says that it will probably be two years before Holiday stations in Duluth sell E85. The State of Minnesota has its own E85 fueling station in St. Paul. I did not contact the state motor pool yet to find details on its usage of E85. Daryl Forti, Fleet Manager for St. Louis County, has no immediate plans to use alternate fuels. He receives a lot of literature about alternative fuels and tries to keep up with developments. Most of the county vehicles are heavier and use diesel fuel. With an eight-to-nine year life cycle for vehicles and a low budget for replacement, he feels that he does not have much flexibility to adopt new technologies. He did say after some glitches with the first tankful, the conversion to 10% ethanol has been quite successful. John Granson, Fleet Manager in Duluth’s Department of Administration, said that Duluth has not made any big push yet for alternate fuels. Duluth currently has 15 CNG (compressed natural gas) vehicles in sedans, vans, and a pickup. Duluth did have 150 LPG (liquid propane gas) vehicles, the largest fleet of LPG vehicles in the country, but the federal government sued the city because the vehicles lacked a certain kind of air pump and catalytic converters. The cost of retrofitting them didn’t justify keeping the fleet. He said a few of their newer vehicles are flexible-fuel, but without a source of E85 he can’t say how they perform with it. Bruce Anthony of Holiday Companies says that E85 has an octane rating of 110 which gives much better performance. On the other hand, E85 does not give the same economy as unleaded gasoline. According to the figures the Ford Motor Company publishes at its web site, a Ford Ranger 4x2 will average 20 mpg with unleaded gasoline and 15 mpg with ethanol. (August 9, 2007 update: unfortunately, the only E85-capable vehicles are now all large vehicles. See "Ford Motor Company - Leading the Way with Ethanol".) Like so many products, all the costs and benefits of ethanol and gasoline are not measured in the price paid by the consumer. Gasoline has more emissions than alcohol, but some studies say that ethanol requires more energy to produce than is available in its use. I will look into these and other ethanol issues in a future article. ©2000, 2007 Melvyn D. Magree |