aftv

Has anyone researched to find out what will be required for our cars to run on Ethanol 85 and will there be a retrofit kit..like there was for AC..?

DuncanC

Are you kidding? I'd bet anything you will never be able to run E85 through our cars. Why would you even think about it. Ethonol fuel is a bad joke. Gee. I'd love to pay more for fuel that will get me 15% less power and milage all so I can know what the goverment supported an industry making a fuel that takes more energy to make than it produces when you use it. To top it all off ethonol creates more smog that conventional gas. The world is in no danger of even running low on oil for at least a couple hundred years at our current pace.

mmarshall

No big deal. GM already has E85-certified engines right from the factory. One example is the new 5.3 V8 E85 option on the new Tahoe.
http://www.chevrolet.com/tahoe/features/

aftv

What did you eat tonight..? LOL

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

that % of ethanol would corrode every rubber seal and gasket in the engine, a cars engine has to be designed to run on that high of a % ethanol

sc1jzgte

they got that kit u can get installed on ur car and it will run off of oil, u kno like used mcdonalds cooking oil, yea seriously, talk about a way to save on gas money though...

-J-P-L-

Where did you get this info?

Industry analyst's predict about 30 years of oil left taking into account new oil findings.

We're in trouble if we don't start switching to alternatives soon.

I've wondered about our biggest challenge: replacing jet fuel for air travel.
Imagine no more commercial airlines?

bizzy928

If that is true, its definitely something to think about.

Do you have a source?

mmarshall

OK, guys, lets separate the facts here from the retoric: Alcohol, compared to gasoline, has both advantages and disadvantages. We have discussed them before on CL in bits and pieces, but here they are in a nutshell:

FACT: Alcohol burns cleaner than gasoline, produces lower emissions, does not leave deposits in the engine or on spark plugs, and will actually clean out a dirty engine...though by doing so it can cause deposits to break up and clog fuel injectors.

FACT: Alcohol, having different vapor pressure and a different flash point, is less likely to catch fire than gasoline...but when it DOES catch fire, the almost invisible light blue flame is much more difficult to see, as opposed to the bright orange flame and black smoke of gasoline.

FACT: Alcohol has higher octane than gasoline ( about 130 in pure form ) so pinging and knocking is certainly not a issue, and spark timing can be advanced for more power and better mileage....but alcohol by nature gets lower mileage than gasoline ( see my next point ).

FACT: Alcohol has lower energy content than gasoline ( as measured in BTU's ) so you need a substantially larger gas tank to have an equivalent cruising range, of course adding weight in the process.

FACT: Alcohol, when added to gasoline in more than about 10-15% concentration, can be damaging to fuel system components invehicles designed for gasoline, and this damage is usually not covered by auto warranties. Anything above 10-15% concentration requires an E85-certified engine. GM currently markets some E85 engines, and some other companies may also that I don't know of.

FACT: gasoline, with current technology, can only be efficiently produced in large quantities from crude oil and petroleum, where alcohol can be produced from a variety of agricultural sources such as corn, sugar cane, beets.....even recycled garbage in some instances. This will go a long way in weaning us off of imported oil from politically unstable countries. But, of course, it takes energy from other sources to produce this alcohol...sometimes from petroleum sourses as well.

Now......there are many valid gasoline vs. alcohol arguements, and which one is better to use for vehicles, but to MAKE those arguemants one has to start with facts.