E85 Cold Weather Test

I filled up today, the first time in a month!! I had 2 people start asking me questions while I was filling. It was very positive. You can tell if your vehicle is Flex Fuel by gas cap, VIN, Internet (e85fuel.com) or the dealer.

The performance of E85 tested in 10 degrees F has been a success here in Colorado. My Great White Tahoe starts and runs fine. E85 cold weather test: Passed.

Let's see, E85 was $2.19 so ~20 gallons was $43. Gas at the same station was $2.90 I believe. So, gas would have cost me $58.

The debate continues in the news including diesel. These studies are mind boggling, which is fine for people who don't want to use E85. If you don't want to use it, then don't - it keeps the demand and the price low. If everyone switched, demand and price would increase. So, keep the price low for me, please. Wired had a good article on cellulosic ethanol in October 2007 issue. Great ideas, very, very exciting. I'm not corn crazy, but it is a step in the right direction. Choice is good.

More Gallons Than Dollars

When was the last time you filled up with more gallons than dollars? Uh, never? I filled up with E85 for only 85 CENTS this morning! YES!! It was a GM promotion. Thank You!! They even had models from Maximum Talent Agency pump it for you, which wasn't bad. Nice touch. I also had them fill 2 extra 5 gallon tanks. I was prepared. They also gave me a yellow gas cap and E85 Flex Fuel Vehicle badge. Some E85 splashed around on the top of my extra tanks. It evaporated by the time I got home and the inside of Great White didn't stink like it would with gasoline. I love the smell of ethanol compared to gasoline.

156 miles on 12 gallons = 13 mpg. 23 gallons for only $20! Gasoline would have cost me about $60.

Dollar per gallon divided by mpg = cents per mile? So, 85 cents divided by 13 mpg = 6.5 cents per mile. So, at $3 per gallon, you would need a car that gets 46 mpg to be the same. And one that can tow 6,000 pounds.

Ethanol is biodegradable, non toxic, water soluble, and there is a surplus. Did you hear about that oil tanker that spilled 58,000 gallons of oil in the San Francisco Bay?

E85 Test and price promotion

This blog was mentioned in the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition NEVC newsletter. So, a main point of this E85 test is to compare mpg between E85 and gas. Well, with gas prices increasing, it would be a bad time to do it, and expensive for me. Plus, there are plenty of Chevy Tahoes on the road, running on gas, so we know what mpg they get.

Are you ready for the great part? As I was reading the newspaper today, Chevy has 2 color ads and at the bottom, Western Convenience (and others) is offering E85 for 85 cents per gallon tomorrow!! WooHoo!! I'm at half a tank, so I will be at the station on 91st and Huron in Thornton, CO tomorrow morning. Thank you Colorado Chevy Dealers!

Normal fill up

I update this blog when I fill up, so I try not to update this too often! No grand opening today, just a normal fill up at 91st and Huron. I usually fill up at Sam's Club, which is just across the highway, so I'm not driving out of my way to get E85.

The news said gas at over $92 a barrel this morning. Or was it $96? Who knows.

I went 228 miles on this tank of E85 so that was 12.5 mpg, it was all city driving. The price was $2.09.

Gale Banks is an expert with high performance. In fact, the man is a legend when it comes to turbochargers. He told Jay Leno the benefits of E85 here: http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/index.shtml?vidID=137216

Grand Opening of Colorado's 40th biofuels station!

I attended the Grand Opening today in Longmont at another Western Convenience station. Country radio station 98.5 KYGO was there broadcasting and handing out free stuff. I got a GM live green, go yellow shirt. Krispy Kremes, free pop, stickers, brochures and pamphlets. Good times. But the best part - $1.99 per gallon! I filled it right to the brim.

18.5 Gallons @ $1.99 = $37.
241 miles on 18 gallons = 13 miles per gallon.

Ok. Still not sure what my Great White Tahoe would get on gasoline.

I do know that's 15 cents per mile.
12.5 miles per gallon at $2.00 = 16 cents per mile.
If I was running on gas, I might get 15 miles per gallon, but would pay $2.70 or 18 cents per mile.

So, gas is more expensive.

Power and Performance

There are a number of bumper stickers that say, "My fuel is home grown - created mostly with crops grown in places like Colorado" or "Corn - Fed powered by E85 ethanol" or I have a little white with blue and yellow magnet that says, "I Drive E85 - the future of clean air." (I'm thinking Sammy Hagar doing a remix as a promotion - I Drive E85!!) I think the magnet would make me drive harder than I do. Just to beat people off the line at stop lights so they don't think ethanol is weak. And to show off a little. But, at least I'm not giving my money to OPEC.

I am sucking E85 down on this tank. I had to pull the boat to get it winterized and I've been really flooring it, just to see what it can do, what it sounds like and how much power it really has. Especially since the days are getting colder and the morning air is dense which packs more power. Plus, I we took it 4 wheeling in the pumpkin patch. Big ruts and I had to see if the 4 wheel drive works, uh, yeah. I haven't had 4 wheel drive since high school.

Wait or fill up?

Another station Grand Opening in Longmont on Oct. 18th. I had less then a 1/2 of a tank, so I didn't think I should push it to wait to fill up. So, I filled up today at 91st and Huron with E85 for $1.99!! 16 gallons @ $32 = 12.5 mpg. I don't think I pulled the boat on this tank, (I will have to check my blog) but that is city driving to and from work.

E85 is 105 octane so I'm not really taking advantage of the power unless I had a higher compression engine, like an engine designed to run solely on E85, such as the indy cars - they run on 100% ethanol because they don't have to worry about cold weather. Oh well, at least I may be cleaning my engine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuOs1yap8mU

Interesting bit near the end of this video - gas looks like urine, E85 looks like water. Note how the gas burns with soot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxDYz_IgRK0

Some neat videos on YouTube with the Viper, 1965 Chevelle, and Turbo Integra.

E85 Stations

Here in Colorado, I noticed that I can get E85 at the smaller stations, such as Western Convenience, Hill Petroleum, or 1st Stop. What's interesting is that Shell or Conoco or the big (dare I say 'oil'?) companies are not selling it right now. (There is a Conoco station in Denver that sells it and 1 Shell, out of 32 stations.) Hmmm, that's says a lot.

I like the little guys, anyway. The underdogs. Rocky. It's okay for them to have some of my money. I'm making a choice with every purchase. A choice to use E85 and a choice to sponsor the little stations. Choice is good. I like having a choice. (DMV - Department of Motor Vehicles, no choice. Public Schools, not too much competition there, either. Yet.)

National Geographic has this: http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/2007-10/biofuels/biofuels.html Interesting, fairly good read.

A guy gave me $10 last night to give him and his TV (for Halo3) a ride to his house 5 blocks away. Should I calculate that into my E85 calculations? Probably, but I won't. A car wasn't big enough for the TV, though.

E85 in the News

The news has stuff about gas prices going up. "Over $80 a barrel!" I don't really care. They don't have me over a barrel, I'm not buying normal gasoline - Well, only 15-30% of it. I also saw this about Ethanol:
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070925/ethanol_sector_snap.html?.v=2
Again, not caring about stocks.

I do love how I can back up into my garage and not have the garage stink. Or, when I back up, it's not into a cloud of gasoline exhaust fumes.

I should take it to an emissions test station to compare gas emissions vs. E85 emissions. That's $25 each, here in Colorado. Anyone have $50 for me?

I know that the truck runs fine on E85. Starts, runs, power, etc. It's great.

E85 ethanol Grand Opening

Yesterday, I attended a grand opening of a station now selling E85. 91st and Huron at a store called Western Convenience. They were selling it for 85 CENTS per gallon!!

Plus, a radio station was there giving away stuff. I got t-shirt, Coke, Krispy Kreme, magnets and stickers. Good schwag.

I spent $5 because my tank was already full from my $25 gift certificate. But I squeezed every single drop in until it was was right at the filler cap. Yep, I spilled a little bit on my hand and it didn't stink. It dried like water. No oily residue. You know how you spill putting gas in a lawnmower or something and then your hand smells like gas all day long? Nope, not this stuff. Not much smell going in. Kind of sweet.

E85 Ethanol fuel test

September 15, 2007. We went boating for the day and I filled up with E85 on the way back, in Longmont, using my $25 E85 gift certificate from their grand opening! I went 119 miles on 10.5 gallons, so 11.3 mpg in tow/haul mode. $25 of fuel - FREE! 91,000 miles.

What I did notice was the exhaust smell, or lack there of, when I am hitching the trailer on to the truck, or launching the boat. When the truck idles, I don't have the exhaust smell that stinks.

Plus, I blow up the inflatable tube at the lake using an air pump which is plugged into a power inverter which is plugged into the right rear cigarette lighter in the Tahoe. The Tahoe has to be running in order for the inverter to have enough juice to blow it up, so the exhaust pipe is right there. No stink, kind of sweet.

E85 Test Background

This entry will serve to document some background and my interest in E85, ethanol.

It started when I read an article by John Gilbert in the April 2006 issue of Sport Truck magazine. His results were based on real word experience with his '05 GMC with the L59. The fuel mileage between E85 and 87 octane were very similar. And the Saab 9-5 2.0 BioPower cranks out more power with the E85, he states. John received feedback from readers, which were published, but nothing from national organizations or corporations.

Soon after his article, Consumer Reports published 'The Ethanol Myth' which did not endorse ethanol or portray it in a positive light, let's say. They received responses from NEVC (National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition) among numerous others. I cancelled my subscription as a result. (They also messed up the car seat tests for babies and they seem biased against GM, Ford and Chrysler cars in their tests.)

So, on a quest to educate, inform and find out for myself, I decided to purchase a flex fuel vehicle and publish my results. I bought a 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe with about 90,000 miles on it on July 27, 2007. The 8th digit of the Vin is a Z and inside the gas cap says E-85. It has the 5.3 V8 engine of course and 3rd row seats.

I live in Colorado and I filled up with E85 in Brighton in August at Western Convenience for $2.19. Nice. But I didn't keep track of my mileage. The Tahoe, which is white, (and bigger than my previous S-10 Blazer) I call it Great White. It runs fine and I pull a 20 foot boat on a double axle trailer to the lake on the weekends.

Thanks to the Governor's Biofuels Coalition and Pester Marketing, a station Grand Opening was held in Longmont on August 30, 2007. 1st Stop 900 Ken Pratt Blvd. 14.135 Gallons for $2.23 per gallon. Nice!! Mileage: 90,656. Plus, they handed out shirts, bags, bumper stickers, and a gift certificate for $25 worth of E85 at that station! Yes!

We went to the lake over Labor Day Weekend. Used the Tow/Haul mode - good for the transmission, bad for the gas mileage. It takes longer to shift. In town driving to and from work for the next week.

September 12, 2007 - Western Convenience - 9191 Huron Street, Thornton, CO
20 Gallons at $2.09 per gallon!! $42. Mileage: 90881 (225) MPG: 11.25 Hmm.

My E85 Test and Experience

This blog will document my experience with E85, ethanol in my 2002 Chevy Tahoe.