Ethanol

Found these:

2012 Plug-In Prius Owner's Manual, page 51:



2017 Prius Prime Owner's Manual, page 96:

 

In the early days of the automobile, the same was thought about gasoline, until Rockefeller, Andrews and Flagler.

And Thomas Midgley, who died of lead poisoning advocated that tetraethyl lead was completely safe. Midgely also invented Freon at Frigidaire.

 

I'm assuming California is one of those states?

I mean ethanol does burn cleaner but produces less energy than gas and requires a ton of corn to be grown and often is subsidized...not to mention the huge mono-cultures and pesticides and that whole side of the argument, isn't really good for the enviroment either... Anyway, I'll get off that subject lol. Anyway, electric is the future. My thinking is that sooner or later Toyota will be selling an electric only version of the Prius. I also think EV range will be pretty awesome because no Tesla is getting 5+ miles per kWh...

 

Driving out of town yesterday, I saw a gas station at the outskirt of my town having a sign saying "Now Ethanol Free Available"
Since my tank was almost full, I did not stop by to see how much more they are charging for that gas. But next time I need to fill up, I have to check it out. This is very first gas station carrying ethanol free gas around here.

 

I think around here it's about 10-15 cents more, I never really look for it. I can't say I've ever noticed a significant change in fuel economy between ethanol free or 10%, or even using 93 over 87 octane.

 

A bump in octane shouldn't help mpg; it makes the fuel resist ignition better? Ethanol-free should help though. IIRC the official line was something like 3% improvement?

 

When I looked for ethanol free gas around my town, the only place had it was marine gas station not easily accessible by a car. I was recommended by a small engine repair shop to use ethanol free gas for all of my yard equipments, including lawn mower, snow blower, generator, trimmer, chainsaw, pressure washer, etc, to prevent costly cleaning/repair. I don't use those equipments often enough, so I mix with Stabil as well. As for using ethanol free gas in a car, I have not tried yet. The marine grade ethanol free gas I got several years back was almost $1 (or 35%) higher than regular gas. If even it is more fuel efficient and better for fuel mechanisms, that high price would not justify the use in regular car. But with PRIME with a longer period between gas fill-up, it may be worth to consider.

 

Methanol is problematic by itself but is used to make Biodiesel and DME, so in that sense methanol is important as a fuel.

I am not going to argue the point that ethanol and biodiesel are favored/mandated by regulators to favor Ag industry.

 

My "yawd" is maintained with 100% electric powered cordless Cobalt tools, or human powered tools.
I have used Cobalt lawnmower, hedge trimmer, weed whacker, and blower for up to 4 years, with interchangeable batteries. No gasoline, oil, etc. Just neat, sweet, and petite (and much quieter), reliable equipment with GREAT warranty. My lot is 6900 sq ft, with plenty of lawn, tons of trees and shrubs, so this equipment is used weekly, with no problems.

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

Yeah, thought about electrifying my yard machines, but no rechargeable battery operated tools are big or strong enough for the work needed to be done in and around my 15+ acres of thickly wooded lot. I do use battery operated weed wacker and blower just around my house and along 300 feet long driveway. But still need more powerful tools from time to time.

 

I am not quite sure why small equipment using small ICE like lawn mowers and weed whackers, etc. can not be made to tolerate E10. Car industry has figured it out years ago. But outdoor power equipment makers choose to not upgrade their materials and force their dealers to sell you ethanol remediation products instead. It really irritates me and the first chance I have to switch to battery power, I will. However, at this point it's not yet possible. I have a 10hp two stage snow blower, a riding tractor lawn mower, a weed whacker and a chain saw that I need to run fairly regularly. I could probably replace the weed whacker with electric, but others simply do not have an equivalent in the battery operated version. Also, the cost is an issue. These are fairly expensive pieces of equipment and I am fairly good at maintaining and repairing them, but I am really sick and tired of constant cleaning and rebuilding of carburetors and replacing fuel lines in all that stuff. Can't wait for a 10hp electric snow blower that will run for a few hours on a charge (or batteries are cheap enough to have a backup)....

 

Can cars with carburetors work OK with E10? I don't even know when was the last time I owned a car with carburetor, but I am assuming that was before ethanol added gasoline appeared in market.

 

It's not the carburetors that do not work with E10. I have a 2004 Harley-Davidson motorcycle that uses a carburetor and has been using E10 since birth and is fine and I never had to do any ethanol remediation on it since I bought it new in 2004. What fails on outdoor power equipment are more things like seals, fuel lines, etc. Materials chosen for these things do not play well with alcohol. This has been solved years ago by the auto (and motorcycle) industry by choosing more appropriate materials, but small engine industry insists on complaining about ethanol and not dealing with it, while trying to sell all kinds of fuel additives to "fight" ethanol. I am not a fan of ethanol, but I am even a lesser fan of an industry that chooses to exploit the consumer instead of dealing technologically with the issue like car industry has.

 

1994....the last veicle in America sold with a carb

What?
25 years ago?

If you're driving a carburetor equipped car it's probably worth very little....or a whooooole lot, and contrary to popular myth putting E10 into a carburetor equipped engine will not harm it.
I have a ZTR mower that's 12 years old, and a few other 4-strokers that run just fine with hooched gas.

Most of the FUD that circulates about E10 is propagated by political hacks, people trying to sell E0 or various additives, OR people that are not very good at maintaining engines with carburetors.

Folksy anecdote:
My oldest push lawnmower is literally 29 years old (found abandoned) and after I cleaned out the gas tank and squirted in a little carb cleaner and replaced the air filter - it literally started and ran on the first pull.
I probably have 20 hours on it since.....

 

Probably a good idea by GM to not want consumers to add additives. But gasoline already has additves, of varying amounts depending on how much the gaso marketer wants to add over the minimum req'd. So I presume GM is saying no owner-supplied additives, on the idea it would be hard for the consumer to properly add anything and mix well etc. Probably much less risky to say hands off to the consumer.

 

I relish the thought of your 15 acre spread; it must be really beautiful! Being a "jungle creating" gardener, I can appreciate your situation. I'm convinced that adequate batteries/performance with gardening equipment will be blessing us in the near future, so we can tend our little Edens, while not toxifying their atmosphere!

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

I highly recommend the Lucas Oil fuel treatment. It's excellent at stabilizing fuel and neutralizing the negative effects of ethanol. I use it in marine environments and it keeps fuel combusting like it should even after months of sitting. A little goes a long way. It's an excellent entire fuel system maintenance tool as well.

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Unless you let it sit for a LONG time, there are NO "negative effects" of ethanol.
It does have slightly lower energy density than pure gasoline but you can't "fix" that with an additive.

Putting ANYTHING in your tank along with the gas every time you fill up is just a waste of money.
Unless maybe you only drive it "to church on Sundays".

 

To each their own right? Lucas works for me.

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