Good: I found out my car takes E85

[krispos42]

Bad: Nearest E85 station is Croton-on-Hudson, NY.

Dammit. In Minnesota there were probably more E85 stations than there were McDonald's restaurants. Including two in Cambridge. One McDonald's, two E85 stations.

You know, back when my car DIDN'T take E85.


:banghead:


Oh, sure, I could slip over to St. James, NY. It's only 22 miles away.

If my damn car was amphibious. Or could fly.


Somebody has to tell mapping software that "as the crow flies" is NOT applicable when Long Island Sound is between takeoff and landing.

It screws up online-dating searches, too. "Oh wow, she's perfect, and only twenty miles away. Where exactly is ______, NY anyway? Must be right over by Stamford or Greenwich, that not too-"



"Fuck."

:-(

[lizziegrace]

1. I have a flex-fuel Taurus

and have found that mileage goes down by at least 20% using E85. Unless the price is 20% less than 87, it's not worth using it, IMHO.

[krispos42]

2. It's the price-per-mile that you need to look at.

My car gets 23 or 24 miles per gallon. I just filled up at $3.53(!) yesterday, so my price per mile is about 15¢.

The gasoline here is really 10% ethanol already, at 33.7 megajoules per liter. E85 is 25.2 MJ/L, so I need to burn 34% more for the same energy.

Let's see... one gallon is 3.8 liters, so my car goes 23.5 miles on 128 MJ of chemical energy. Or, it takes 5.45 MJ of energy to go one mile. So one gallon of E85 should get me 17.6 miles per gallon. If gas is 15¢ per mile, then as long as the E85 is about $2.64 a gallon I'm breaking even.


Of course, if I have to drive 80 miles round trip to buy it, that kinda negates any advantage!

[david13]

3. Ethanol is nothing but a scam. It has no benefit for the environment

whatsoever, but may well be more harmful.
It is merely a farm subsidy. We have seen those before. In essence, corporate welfare.
dc

[krispos42]

4. Yeah, in once sense

But I hate supporting the Saudis even more.


Bah. Can't win.