What gas do you put in your Prius Prime?

It sounds like you haven't been to Oregon either.

 

Coquitlam is one zone in Greater Vancouver (Richmond is in the same boat) that only allows full-service gas stations. I think I've filled up here ONCE in over thirty years we've lived in the area. Lucky there's neighboring communities without this nonsense.

Self-serve gas forbidden in 2 B.C. cities – for the most part | CTV News

 

Oregon has banned that practice of topping up. Attendants must stop at the first click. Though I watch the pump to make sure it has dispensed close to the expected amount, in a car that sometimes clicks off very prematurely.

A while back they legalized nighttime self service in low population (rural) counties, so that fuel could be made available 24 hours even when the stores themselves were closed, when customer traffic won't cover the labor cost of being open. More recently they legalized self service in daytime too in those counties.

I did self service there once very shortly after it was legalized, but an attendant made clear that I could have them do it. Previously I had also absentmindedly self served, nobody noticed until afterwards when I headed inside to pay. Only after everyone was showing confusion did I remember that it wasn't legal. But with the main islands backed up with waiting customers, I had simply gone around to an empty side island to avoid the crowd. The attendants were too busy to notice.

 

Volume efficiency suffers, but that isn't particularly important. It is fossil carbon efficiency that really matters, and E10 has less fossil carbon than E0. Considering just the raw fuels (not the full production life cycle), the E10 is clearly a bit better, roughly 7% so.

Now, considering the full production cycle and all the agricultural fossil diesel fuel used to produce that ethanol, the story does change and the answer becomes much less clear. It depends on who you ask ...

 

E85 cheap european ethanol.

 

Another vote for regular gas only unless you have a vehicle designed to run on high octane gas.
I believe Mini's need high octane gas.

Potential issues with carbon build up in the cylinder above the piston in a low compression engine.

It's like drinking wine, you will need more each time to get the desired result.

Wish I wasn't out!

 

No doubt that farm belt politics are a factor, but MTBE is apparently a nasty chemical, so the corn farmers score a win.

 

When I got a generator set and a new 4cycle lawnmower, several small engine forums made it clear to use only "straight" 87 gas, no alcohol as it made gas breakdown over time. Then it said at season end, drain gas and put in a nearly full car tank so it disperses and didn't affect the quality. Old wives/husbands (gotta be politically correct!) tale?

 

Yeah, ethanol can be nasty on equipment not designed for its use. Primer, lines, gaskets etc can get brittle causing fuel to leak.

 

Never had problems with E10 in the mower, but then I drained the tank and ran it dry at the end of the season. Which is something the manual recommended before ethanol was prevalent.

 

Fuel tanks on those small engines often have vented gas caps, which leads to significant evaporation and oxygen intake, especially since the tanks themselves are small. And of course the lightest fractions evaporate faster, leaving a heavier mixture behind. So their situations are very very different than on the evaporative-emission-controlled tanks of modern cars, or the sealed tanks of PHEVs.