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Bad news: Ethanol coming to Fla.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by MercerGirl, Dec 3, 2007.

  1. MercerGirl

    MercerGirl Junior Member

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    I got my first tank of 10% ethanol last week at my normal fillup station, Hess. I can already see the 2% drop in mpg. Sad. I really liked Hess stations.

    I found this news release (http://www.dtnethanolcenter.com/index.cfm?show=10&mid=67&pid=10) stating that Florida is jumping into the ethanol market and Hess hopes to have all 366 station pumping ethanol by 2008.

    Then I went to toptiergas.com to find what brands I can maybe use now.

    I am not a believer that it is greener to use corn to make fuel for autos. What will the poor people eat if all the hummers are filling up on corn?
     
  2. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Does anyone know what percentage ethanol CA. is using currently? I always forget to include gas formula differences when I compare people's mpg across the country.
     
  3. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

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    Some of us have had that as our only fuel for year-round 10 years and during the winter for 16 years. Get use to the MPG hit... along with the side benefits of never any water accumulation and whistle clean fuel components. There's a teeny, tiny horsepower increase too.
     
  4. TimMan

    TimMan AC or Bust

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    Are we able to use ethanol to fuel the Prius??:confused:

    Is the Prius FFL rated??
     
  5. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

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    Like all other vehicles, it is certified for E10 and likely capable of E20.

    fyi: E20 will be the only gas available in Minnesota starting in 2013.
     
  6. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    MPG is only part of the equation. If you are making the bioldiesel on-site or locally for cheap then a mpg hit is no big deal. It all comes down to production of the resource (location and energy costs) and the emissions output. Our subsidized oil has a ton of hidden costs not found in small scale production of biodiesel. :)
     
  7. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    oh gee the ethanol scare again...

    most areas use E 10 and you will see about a one mile per gallon difference in performance on your Prius. E10 is used year round here and has been since the late 1980's... we have not perished for it.
     
  8. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I'm guessing Brasil has you beat in monthly milage for their trucks and airliners yet it works for them. Point is, you are using a blanket statement to cover way to many issues and it is not correct IMO. :)
     
  9. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    E10 is junk is it? I better stop going way out of my way to get it then. I use 4.3 litres of it to travel 100 kilometres across Adelaide every working day and my old Camry went from 9 litres per 100 kilometres down to 8 litres per 100 km when I switched to E10 as it sorted a slight pinging issue allowing me to cruise at 60km/h in 5th gear. I'm sure it reduces emissions as ethanol comes from renewable sugar cane in Australia.

    Each to their own I guess.
     
  10. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    He's from Australia and posting on an international site. Besides, in science everything is done in metric (SI).
     
  11. Tempus

    Tempus Senior Member

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    Actually, at 50 MPG it's closer to a 2 MPG hit, and I hate it :)

    But, you are correct, it hasn't killed me.
     
  12. alanh

    alanh Active Member

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    So for a 4% drop in gas mileage, you're using 10% less gasoline.
     
  13. TimMan

    TimMan AC or Bust

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    What exactly does 1 bar = ??

    Does anyone know what 1 bar indicate on the gas gauge as far as mileage and gallons?
    Does it mean I have 40 miles, etc?

    What about a full tank, how many miles can you get from full to empty???:confused:
     
  14. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    shouldnt be that bad...ethanol has about 10% less power than gas.
     
  15. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

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    Actually, it has less energy. However, combustion of it results in a small horsepower increase.

    Whatever the case, my lifetime average using nothing but E10 in a hostile environment (Minnesota) for 89,000 miles is 48.4 MPG. That's nothing to complain about.
     
  16. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    Sorry for those who struggle to convert my one post to about 100 posts from America that I have to convert. By the way if we are using english, the english currently buy petrol (not gas) in litres, and if they used gallons they would be 160 fluid ounce gallons not the little baby 128 ounce gallons Americans use. SO if I have to use english you need to start doing the same.
    BTW, I know the whinger is gone now but I wanted to post this anyway.