Recently BP has converted their Silver grade of gasoline to not having an ethanol component and it is so labeled as zero percent ethanol.. I haven't verified how far over NC that grade is offered but certainly in mid North Carolina. Add Shell station at intersection of I40 and NC49. getting popular here.
Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada lists some 8000 gas stations selling gas that does not contain ethanol. BP's blend goes back to 2011.
Implication perhaps is BP is meeting its mandated ethanol quotas and has more freedom to offer a choice. I'd love to try E0 but I rarely get out of RFG areas where E10 is mandated all grades. What's the octane on the silver ...mid octane?
I believe the silver is rated at 89. The only place I've noticed ethanol free gas is in Amish country on US322. I don't remember the town but the sign and the high price got my attention.
The station is on the more 'southern" stretch of 322 closer to Hershey or Ephrata. I don't think of the Amish & Penn State but they are in the neighborhood. I suspect a wagon load of farm workers were surprised when a Prius going down the mountain flew past them with a whooosh. I know the driver of the Prius was surprised to find a wagon load of Amish at the bottom of the mountain.
In Lancaster, PA there is (or at least was last time I passed by) an ethanol free place when you go up the road from the rockvale square outlets towards the Stroudsburg railroad. Filled up there a few times in my multiple Prius and Volt because of my dislike for ethanol being forced upon me in NY.
...in another recent post, sounded like one poster was suggesting a fairly large increase in E0 stations is coming...I need to check into why that would be happening. Implication would be EPA has backed off ethanol quotas a little bit, giving a little more freedom to offer some E0 in certain (non RFG) regions.
No ethanol in gas in Alaska and Yukon. Mixed bag in rest of Canada with certain brands and higher grades being ethanol free in some areas. I seem to be getting a noticeable increase of 4-5 mpg (indicated) using E0 vs E10 in comparable driving, which is congruent with higher energy content of E0. Anyone else notice a different mpg in real life driving?
Robert you're not going to Alaska for E0 right? Where in Va. are finding E0? I know we have many outside NoVa. As far as 4-5 MPG increase, I think it is possible, but only about 2 MPG would be due to ethanol per se. The other part of the MPG increase (if it's real) could be due to more energy content in the gasoline portion of the E0 compared to the gasoline portion of the E10. For instance, if you were getting the E10 in NoVA (EPA RFG gasoline) and the E0 elsewhere you might get a double whammy on better MPG (and lower cost!). As far as numbers of E0 stations increasing on Pure-Gas.org, the only explanation I see is that Florida stopped mandating E10, so thay have more. Apparently EPA has not yet even picked an ethanol quota for 2014, so it's anybody's guess.
There are two reasons. 1. the evidence is mounting that fuel systems are having degraded systems due to ethanol-water mixes corrosion resulting in lower mpg numbers. And its not all due to formulations that reduce energy content in favor of higher production volumes.. 2. the siphoming of ethanol from food stuffs is icreasing grocery costs more than otherwise would occur.
Well, if I'd walk a mile for a Camel, I'd probably drive 5,000-odd miles for some really good E0 gasoline!! Curiously, Alaska had mandated the MTB additive (I may have the acronym wrong, but that additive had a quite distinct sweet aromatic hydrocarbon odor), but apparently the folks in Alaska petitioned their state government to go back to non-additive gasoline and that was finally done. From Fairbanks to Anchorage with mountains, and quite a few stops and cold starts, I have managed an indicated 62 mpg holding as much as possible at a steady 55 mph. (Actual mpg is no doubt less, but probably in 55-58 range.) But the real reason to come to Alaska is:
I was an early supporter of adding ethanol, but the promise at the outset was that corn-based ethanol would be a short-term bridge until the kinks were worked out of cellulose-based ethanol from, for example, wood chips. The promise of cellulose based ethanol proved to be false as no full scale production plants have been made after low, these many years of enforced ethanol content, nor are any such production plants on the drawing board that I know of. Further, the continued use of corn-based ethanol has dramatically driven up corn prices and made feed stock and food in general more expensive. I did not correctly foresee the failure of cellulose ethanol technology nor the size of the impact of corn based ethanol on food prices for us and third-world countries, so I now realize that I was wrong to support ethanol in gasoline in the first place and would favor eliminating the ethanol mandate completely. (While we are at it, could we also remove the hocus-pocus government accounting that "Flex-Fuel" vehicles that can run on ethanol give the manufacturers some kind of high fleet CAFE mpg credits? That's just bogus and gave Ford, GM, and Chrysler a way to dance around the fleet CAFE mpg requirements.) (that said, I would prefer breathing ethanol fumes to breathing the MTBE additive fumes that preceded it--has anyone analyzed whether that compound is carcinogenic or otherwise deleterious to humans or other life?) (will check with Spiderman on the Alaska situation, but the tailpipe emissions I am smelling from some cars in Alaska indicate no regular inspection of the emission systems.)
Your analysis is good, but there are about 5 or more cellulosic fuels projects supposed to come on line soon... by and large they are struggling. I am most familiar with the company KIOR which is going belly-up...covered on 60 -Minutes earlier this year. KIOR were not making ethanol per se but representative of the biomass to fuels situtation. As far as MTBE toxicity, as far as I am concerned it is not very toxic. But it's a huge problem becuase it contaminantes water supplies (it is not readily biodegradable so it persists) and causes bad taste and odor in water at trace levels. So it's a mess. As far as risk perception, if people can smell something, then the brain tells us that is harmful...so in that sense, it's terrible.
People have discovered the poor performance of ethanol as used in a low compression ratio (9:1 to 12:1) gasoline engine. Not only does ethanol have 3% less btus than E0(ethanol-free) gasoline, but needs high compression ratio (16:1) ethanol engines to extract its energy effectively. I have years of ethanol-fuel records for 3 cars. Switched to E0 & now have years of records using E0 for those 3 cars. My mpg for the 3 cars increased by 8%, 7% & 5%. Tho I use little ethanol blend in my present 2013 car, records indicate mpg difference of 8+%(?). Remember: diesel fuel NEEDS to burn in diesel engines, ethanol NEEDS to burn in ethanol engines & 100% gasoline NEEDS to burn in gasoline engines. Even newer engines cannot efficiently process ethanol(octane-114) AND gasoline(octane-87 to 94+) together.
From pure-gas.org, their listings for E0 (ethanol-free) gasoline has increased from 7280 in mid-September 2013 to this day's 8570. At that rate, listings should be 10,000+ BEFORE the beginning of 2016.
I think I may have asked this before. If I have asked this or there are similar forums please let me know. I currently live in Chicago, Illinois. I applied for a job in Anchorage, Alaska. It will be just me moving. Currently I drive a 2012 Prius C two. It has 71,000 miles. If I move to Anchorage I have a few different options I am thinking about. I just wish the Prius C had a temperature gauge. I do own the car. #1. Is the car worth saving or should I just fly and get a new car when I get their? I really don't like this because I can't move as much junk. #2. Drive the Prius C from Chicago to Anchorage. I am debating on weather I could maybe take a small trailer with? Since Harbor Freight stop selling trailers, not sure what trailer if I could or should use. Maybe a trailer that is designed for motorcycles to tow, but those are on the expensive side. Would want a small cheap trailer. #3. Rent a Uhaul or other rent a wreck, with a car trailer/dolly. #4. Fly and have the car shipped. Not sure if the car is worth it. Another question I know I would need to have an engine block heater installed. Do I need a battery heater or other types of car auxiliary heaters? Where can/could I have them installed? If anyone has two cents on above or another idea please let me know. I know I posted this before so PLEASE don't think I am spamming. Thank you !
