Yes, starting on gasoline is probably the smart way to go. I also wonder whether carbureted alcohol-powered cars might be particularly prone to carb icing, due to the high heat of vaporization of alcohol. I know that in England where it is often damp and many people ride year-round, or nearly so, bikes that were prone to carb icing were equipped equipped with engine-coolant based carb heaters. Of course, with fuel injection as pretty much all modern vehicles have this shouldn't be a problem.
Another thing I haven't seen discussed yet is the fact that in order to mix ethanol and gas, the ethanol must be anhydrous or "dry". To get ethanol, it can be made very cheaply if you intend to use only ethanol with no gas in the tank. To get the last 1%-5% water from the ethanol is very expensive, but you have to or the water will separate from the ethanol and sit in the tank as contamination. A car will easily run on 180 proof( 90%) ethanol. As long as we want E85 or E10, we must use 100% ethanol to mix with the gas which runs up the price. A few years back, I made my own ethanol for fuel for about 25 cents a gallon. I'm sure today's price would be under 50 cents.