Research performed in the USA is indicating that the majority of modern, unleaded, petrol engine vehicles on the roads today actually will perform better if they are run on E20 ~ E30 ( a 20% ~ 30% blend of ethanol in unleaded petrol) compared with straight, unleaded petrol. This poses the question: why is the ethanol mandate only set at 10%, when maybe it should be higher?

But for the average motorist who is able to find E85, by using some creative fuelling techniques it is possible to fill your tank with 1/4 E85 and 3/4 E10 to produce about E30 mixture in your petrol tank. If your car has been built to handle E10 then it is safe to use E30, as all components in your fuel system are ethanol compatible.

By creating the mixture as described above, you could save as much as 15 cents/ litre, see better mileage and have a cleaner running car. Now who doesn’t want this?

Personally I have been running my 94 Toyota Camry on an E30 ~ E40 mixture and it's just loving it. I, too, have seen better mileage, a smoother quieter running engine and more power with less accelerator pedal. The car does drive differently and it has an amazing power band that is experienced at about 3,000 rpm. You have to feel it to believe it... Obviously at this engine speed, the right fuel / air mixtures are being obtained and the full power of the E30 fuel mix coming into play.

Here is a report on the finding from the University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Centre.

Sioux Falls, SD (December 5, 2007) – Research findings released 6 months ago show that mid-range ethanol blends—fuel mixtures with more ethanol than E10 but less than E85—can in some cases provide better fuel economy than regular unleaded petrol, even in standard, non-flex-fuel vehicles.

Previous assumptions held that ethanol’s lower energy content should always directly correlate with lower fuel economy for drivers. Those assumptions were found to be wrong. Instead, the new research strongly suggests that there is an “optimal blend level” of ethanol and petrol—most likely E20 or E30—at which cars will get better mileage than predicted based strictly on the fuel’s per-gallon Btu content.

The new study, cosponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), also found that mid-range ethanol blends reduce harmful tailpipe emissions and that vehicles without any adjustments can operate well on higher ethanol blends than previously thought.

“Initial findings indicate that we haven’t begun to recognise the value of ethanol," said Brian Jennings, executive vice president of the American Coalition for Ethanol. “This is a compelling argument for more research on the promise of higher ethanol blends in petrol. There is strong evidence that the optimal ethanol-petrol blend for standard, non-flex-fuel vehicles is greater than E10 and instead may be E20 or E30. We encourage the federal government to move swiftly to research the use of higher ethanol blends and make necessary approvals so that motorists can have the cost-effective ethanol choices they deserve at the pump.”

The University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Centre (EERC) and the Minnesota Centre for Automotive Research (MnCAR) conducted the research using four 2007 model vehicles: a Toyota Camry, a Ford Fusion and two Chevrolet Impalas, one flex-fuel and one non-flex-fuel. Researchers used the EPA Highway Fuel Economy Test (HWFET) to examine a range of ethanol-petrol blends from straight Tier 2 petrol up to 85 percent ethanol. All of the vehicles got better mileage with ethanol blends than the ethanol’s energy content would predict, and three out of four actually travelled farther on a mid-level ethanol blend than on unleaded petrol.

“I applaud the American Coalition for Ethanol for taking action and studying the impact of intermediate blends of ethanol. I am encouraged by the findings of this study, which should benefit the federal regulatory process for approving higher blends of ethanol,” said U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD). “Intermediate blends of ethanol will offer consumers more choices at the pump, reduce dependence on foreign oil, and benefit our domestic ethanol industry for years to come."

In addition to the favourable fuel economy findings, the research provides strong evidence that standard, non-flexfuel vehicles can operate on ethanol blends beyond 10 percent. The three non-flex-fuel vehicles tested operated on levels as high as E65 before any engine fault codes were displayed. Emissions results for the ethanol blends were also favourable for nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and non-methane organic gases, showing an especially significant reduction in CO2 emissions for each vehicle’s “optimal” ethanol blend (E20 for the flex-fuel Chevy, E30 for the Toyota and Ford, E40 for the non-flex Chevy).

“These studies show that moderate 20-30 percent ethanol blends can reduce air pollution, improve petrol mileage, and save drivers money in the most popular cars on the road today,” said Brett Hulsey, president of Better Environmental Solutions, an environmental health consulting firm. “Moderate ethanol blends are home grown in our country, can be delivered with existing pumps to current vehicles, and cost less than petrol. Ethanol lowers CO2 emissions 20 percent from petrol, making it one of our most effective greenhouse gas reduction programs currently in place.”

Ethanol’s energy content was not found to be a direct predictor of fuel economy. A fuel’s energy content in British Thermal Units (Btu) is current standard practice for estimating fuel economy, a method that, because of ethanol’s lower Btu value, leads to estimates of decreased fuel economy in proportion to the percentage of ethanol in the fuel blend.

• This research, however, did not find ethanol’s Btu content to be a direct predictor of fuel economy. All four vehicles tested exhibited better fuel economy with the ethanol blends than the Btu-value estimates predicted. 
•  E20 and E30 ethanol blends outperformed unleaded petrol in fuel economy tests for certain autos. Contrary to Btu-based estimates of fuel economy for ethanol blends, three of the four vehicles tested achieved their highest fuel efficiency not on petrol, but on an ethanol blend. Mid-level blends of ethanol E20 (20% ethanol, 80% gasoline) and E30 (30% ethanol, 70% petrol) offered the best fuel economy in these tests.
• E30 offered better fuel economy than petrol (a 1% increase) in both the Toyota and the Ford.
• E20 offered better fuel economy than petrol (a 15% increase) in the flex-fuel Chevrolet.
• The non-flex-fuel Chevrolet more closely followed the Btu-calculated trend for fuel economy, but did experience a significant improvement over the trend line with E40 (40% ethanol, 60% petrol), indicating that this may be the “optimal” ethanol blend level for this vehicle.

Standard, non-flex-fuel vehicles operated well on ethanol blends beyond 10 percent – All automakers currently cover the use of up to E10 (10% ethanol, 90% petrol) by warranty for standard, non-flex-fuel vehicles. In this preliminary research, the three non-flex-fuel vehicles tested each operated successfully on ethanol blends significantly higher than this 10% ethanol level.

• The Ford Fusion operated on E45, the Toyota on E65, and the non-flex-fuel Chevy on E55. No engine fault codes were displayed until these levels were surpassed.

So if many cars are demonstrating such better performance on E20 and E30 -- imagine how well they'll be able to perform on E85. And the higher the ethanol percentages, the lower the driver's fuel costs will be. As well as helping the environment more, and supporting our increasing independence from oil rich countries. Remember to get your vehicle properly fitted with a flex fuel kit, however: in order to achieve its full efficiency. Within just a few tankfuls, the kit will pay for itself. From then on, it's all purely savings.



Related reading:

Full report is available here.

The above information was obtained from The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) website www.ethanol.org