The Feds Plan To Start Diluting Gasoline This May: Explained

thedrive.com ^ | 3/27/2026 | Andrew Collins

[moviefan8]

This week, Lee Zeldin’s EPA announced “approving nationwide E15,” pitching it as “fortifying the domestic fuel supply.” What that means exactly is that the federal government will allow more stations to cut gasoline with ethanol, which, yes, makes it cheaper, but it also yields less power and worse fuel economy in your engine.

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TOPICS: Agriculture; Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: affordability; dilution; e15; epa; ethanol; gasoline; leezeldin; panicporn; summerblend; tds; tdstrolls

[moviefan8]

If you are questioning the article that was posted look at the articles below.

Fuel Waivers
https://www.epa.gov/gasoline-standards/fuel-waivers

Republicans vote to dilute gas as prices rise above $4.50
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/republicans-vote-to-dilute-gas-as-prices-rise-above-450/ar-AA239WsA?ocid=BingNewsSerp

EPA To Allow Gas Stations To Dilute Your Gas More… Will It Save You Money or Cost You?
https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/epa-e15-gas-stations/

Gas to Be Diluted From May. Here’s Who is Impacted
https://www.newsweek.com/gas-to-be-diluted-from-may-heres-who-is-impacted-11776294

Here’s what to know about E15 gas as Trump moves to lower pump prices
https://www.usatoday.com/story/cars/maintenance/2026/03/26/e15-gasoline-impact-car-fuel-prices/89329770007/

[Tell It Right]

I use nothing but ethanol-free gas in my smaller engines. More expensive, but easier to maintain.

[moviefan8]

The stupid party wants to make this permanent by passing a law.

Thank you Republicans.

Republicans vote to dilute gas as prices rise above $4.50
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/republicans-vote-to-dilute-gas-as-prices-rise-above-450/ar-AA239WsA?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[eyedigress]

Lucas cylinder treatment.

[OldCountryBoy]

The cost of government subsidized corn alcohol in our fuels is not showing up at the pump, but it is showing up in our government spending. It also creates a dependency/market manipulation for farmers, and a Democrat voting bribe.

Remember, alcohol was added as an oxygenate, but now it is just a bribe. The “cleaner fuel” scam has long since been forgotten, and was never true. Less energy dense, and quite noticeably so.. Do your own “ethanol” vs “non-ethanol” mileage comparisons.

[ChildOfThe60s]

The additional question that I have is: Are the stations going to be required to label the gas As E15?

I have two older cars that I prefer to run ethanol free but I do run E-10 from stations locally that turn over the Gas regularly. What I will probably have to do is either stick with the higher priced ethanol free or mix it half and half. We don’t do a great deal of driving so I’ll probably just stick to ethanol free until this is over with

I’m guessing after the crunch is over the ethanol lobbyists will say “see how well that worked? Let’s do it for everything now.” It’ll be their foot in the door for permanent E15

[Cold Heart]

For small engines you can use the water gas mix (1:5) process and titrate.

[hoosierham]

I noticed my Buick getgingpoorer mileage and running rough when starting beginning a few weeks past...hmmmm.

[NorthMountain]

Some cars can’t handle lower octane or alcohol

E15 is rated at 88 octane ... E85 (for flex-fuel engines ONLY) is rated from the mid 90s to the low 100s octane, depending on the blend.

Alcohol can be bad for some older engines and for some non-highway engines. Fuel hoses in 2-cycle engines seem particularly vulnerable to ethanol rot.

FWIW, I use stabilized E10 pump gas (standard 87 octane fuel) in my 4-cycle small engines with no issues whatsoever.

[Disambiguator]

You have a V-6 Outback? Unicorn.

[ChildOfThe60s]

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐠𝐩𝐭. 𝐀𝐬 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐈 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭:

Yes — the EPA did move forward with another summertime waiver allowing broader sales of E15 gasoline, and stations in many states are continuing to sell it this year. The change was not a permanent nationwide deregulation yet; it is primarily being handled through temporary EPA emergency waivers.

A few key points:

E15 is gasoline containing up to 15% ethanol.
Normally, federal summertime volatility rules restrict E15 sales in much of the country.
The EPA again issued a waiver in spring 2026 allowing nationwide summer sales of E15.
This is now the fifth consecutive year the EPA has used emergency waivers for summer E15 sales.

As for whether stations are actually selling it: yes, many are. It is commonly marketed as:

“Unleaded 88”
“88 octane”
“E15”

It is especially common at chains in the Midwest and farm-belt states, but Kentucky has also seen increasing availability, especially at newer stations and some independent retailers.

Regarding Kentucky specifically:

Kentucky does permit E15 sales.
You can find E15 at some stations in the state, though it is nowhere near universal yet.
Availability is still spotty compared with states like Iowa, Minnesota, or Missouri.

And yes — pumps are supposed to be clearly labeled if they dispense E15.

Federal EPA labeling rules still apply. E15 pumps are generally required to display labels indicating:

the fuel contains up to 15% ethanol,
it is approved only for cars/light trucks model year 2001 and newer,
and it is not approved for motorcycles, boats, lawn equipment, etc.

So if you encounter E15 legally sold in Kentucky, the pump should be marked as E15 or “Unleaded 88” with ethanol labeling. Retailers are not supposed to quietly substitute E15 into pumps labeled merely as regular E10 gasoline.

[NorthMountain]

Cruz won the caucus

Ted Cruz is the ONLY serious presidential candidate I can remember with the guts to campaign on a promise of ending the ethanol fuel mandate.

[Myrddin]

I use only ethanol free in my F150 trucks and motorcycles. My 1999 F150 was parked on the driveway when the overnight temperature dropped to -21F. The water attracted by the ethanol froze and destroyed the fuel pump. It cost me $850 to fix. The bed has to be pulled to access the pump. The repaired result has never had a trustworthy fuel gauge. I would rather pay extra for pure gas than go through another expensive repair. Besides, I get better mileage with the pure version.

[Myrddin]

Ethanol melted the hose to the fuel pump in my wife's Italian BV500 scooter. I paid $44 for a 1 foot piece of fully submersible fuel hose that could withstand the ethanol tainted fuel. It was about a 1 hour job to swap it out. The bike started perfectly at that point.

[cableguymn]

says on the pump all engines 2001 and newer are approved for E15..

I can’t say anything I’ve put it in has complained.

[House Atreides]

We fuel up at Costco with 87 octane (10% ethanol). If Costco goes with this ridiculous 15% ethanol in their 87 octane gas I’m going to have to switch to their 91-octane, ethanol-free gasoline.

[NorthMountain]

That seems to be where the problems occur, if they’re going to: hoses and gaskets. My 4-cycle small engines are DESIGNED for E10 ... I wrecked a chainsaw using E10 ... new chainsaw and trimmer (2-cycle, both) get only properly oiled petrol, no alcohol. I have had no trouble with them so far.

My truck has a flex-fuel engine. It runs great on E85, but takes a serious mileage hit.

[Clay Moore]

In a lot of areas, there is only one pipeline bringing gasoline into a terminal. The tankers come in, pull into their brands lane, and their “special additives” are blended into the bulk gasoline. So if one station is getting E15, they all are.

[dagunk]

Kansas here.
The farmers are gonna love it some more.
We have E15 at the pumps most places. There are a few with straight gasoline and I am slowly learning where they are.
The car and motorcycle don’t seem to care, other than lower gas mileage. They run fine either way.
The difference in the Harley Fatboy is pretty stiff. Gasohol gives about 35 to 38MPG. Straight gas gives 48MPG last time I checked. Back roads, fairly steady 70MPH.

Since this IS Kansas, I’m not gonna raise a stink either way. Waste of time....

[Paul R.]

Haha - got ya’ beat. Our ‘09 Outback is closing in on 300k. It’s had quite a few moderate issues: Right now, the power steering pump has a slow leak, and an exhaust leak has developed right where the split to the dual tailpipe occurs. But, that’s pretty normal maintenance stuff. She burns about 1 qt. of oil every 3k miles - to be expected, at this point. That works out ok, as 3k is my oil change interval.

Last year we were having a problem with too much coolant being forced into the reserve AF reservoir — it turned out that was due to the radiator cap needing replacement. I barked up multiple wrong trees on that one, as most diagnoses indicated air in the engine cooling system. I am now an expert in “burping” Outback engine cooling systems.

I really, really like driving / using that car, other than the cramped seating (which was corrected in Gen 4, which we also have one of.) Gen 4 is ok, but Subaru introduced more problems than they corrected, plus, the audio system, while “fancier”, with the nice display, fails at its most basic requirement: The sound is considerably poorer, and because of the dash / console integration, much more of a challenge to improve. IF I ever get time, I’ll upgrade some (some) of the speakers and completely bypass the electronics, so I can switch to my own mini-player, eq if needed, and amps feeding the speakers.

And as for the fuel, yes, anything above E-10 is definitely a no-no. Our 2014 Tahoe, OTOH, can burn up to E-85, at a bit of mileage penalty.