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Posted on 04/28/2008 4:40:54 AM PDT by LouAvul
Seeking relief from high gas prices? There's a new gas station offering fuel for under $3.00 per gallon. But, is it really worth it in the long run?
It's for the alternative fuel E-85, the ethanol-based fuel made mostly from corn. Its logo has a bunch of clouds in a drop of water. Eco-friendly, feel-good fuel. And, the icing on the cake is the price so beautiful you'll start drooling.
There are few places in the Tulsa area you can find it -- one is in Glenpool, where it's 34 cents cheaper than regular unleaded. In Owasso, it's 75 cents cheaper. The price of E-85 at the new Kum & Go station located at 86th and 145th East Avenue in Owasso is just $2.64.
But, while the price is truly seductive, you need to do some math to make sure it's worth it for your wallet.
"From what I understand, you lose a couple of miles per gallon using it," says Chenana Wollenberg. "But, with it being $2.64 and regular gas being $3.39 and probably getting higher soon, it's definitely worth it."
Definitely? Not according to Uncle Sam. One visit to the Department of Energy's website pulls up a flex-fuel cost calculator, revealing the true impact of those lost couple of miles. E-85 for an F-150? Fork over an additional 126 dollars a year, even at $2.64 per gallon. In Glenpool, using E-85 for your Grand Marquis will end up costing you $2,858 more than regular gas.
"All I know is it's cheaper."
Marketing at its finest -- irresistible price, thumbs up for the environment and please, pay no attention to your bank account at the end of the year.
According to the federal government, E-85 produces 27-percent less energy than an equivalent gallon of gas, hence the need for so much more to go the same distance, costing you more, even though it appears cheaper.
Saved 34 cents a gallon using ethanol...offset by a larger grocery bill.
Not all vehicles are so equipped, so check your owner's manual before you fill up.
Over a ten year life of the car, perhaps. But coming right after an annual figure of $126 for an F-150, this looks like sloppy journalism, math illiteracy or both.
A range of 220 miles in the car is going to be a bit of a PITA. I might as well drive an electric!
I’m thinking that burning ethanol in a car is a poor use of what ahould be human “antifreeze”. ;-)
You already paid more than the 34c difference in crop subsidies. Ethanol is not a fuel, it is a way to power your car using taxes.
I often get gas at Sam’s. It contains ethanol. My average mpg has gone down.
Yes, its cheaper, the government subsidizes it up the wazoo.
The Best Global Warming Videos on the Internet |
And build more refineries and nukes; and extract the oil off the coast of California; and send Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq a bill because our military liberated/protects their useless butts.
Yep, for sure. The writer of the article correctly pointed out that E-85 gets less mpg than straight gasoline but per other articles I have read E-85 gets only about 75% the mpg of gasoline. The writer also failed to mention that E-85, while about $0.35 cheaper at the pump than gasoline, is subsidized by our government to the tune of about $0.50 per gallon by those few individuals who actually pay taxes. But don't expect government subsidies for this program to go away anytime soon as neither Democrat nor Republican legislators want to be the party to receive the wrath of these farmers at the ballot box. So, our Congressional whores have now made whores out of our grain farmers. And now you know the rest of the story...
the Chevy Tahoe we just got rid of would get an overall average of 17 mpg on regular unleaded, 13 mpg on E85.
Translated out - it actually cost about 1 cent per mile MORE to run E85 than regular unleaded. And that is with a price differential of around 60 cents.
The higher gas prices are, the less savings in E85. If there is a 60 cent differential per gallon and regular unleaded is selling for $2.00 (E85 at $1.40), then the direct cost is lower for E85 per mile. But with gas prices at or near $3.50, the difference in efficiency completely wipes out any perceived price advantage - and then some.
And that isn’t even taking into consideration the impact on other commodities.
These poor saps are suffering from Ethanol Madness. Thinking they are getting something for less money when it’s actually costing them more money. P.T. Barnum was a prophet.........
If your mpg has gone down, then you have other issues. Most markets in the US have gasoline that contains up to 10% ethanol. This has been the norm for several years. Unless you are specifically burning E85 (which I do not believe any Sam's Clubs sell at this point), then you are basically burning the same gas as the other station up the road. 10% Ethanol is the standard for most of the country.
If you can do a simple thing called “mathematics”, it’s pretty easy to figure out that ethanol is a bad idea. However, those who can’t do math and don’t have a grasp of what is involved think that ethanol is a great idea.
They are incapable of being persuaded otherwise, and they have to be burned by touching a hot stove after being told the stove is hot. Some of them have to be burned several times.
Ironically, these are the smarter of the dummies. The really bad ones are far worse. They are the true believers, who even if given countless examples of failure and being burned multiple times themselves, they will still insist that ethanol has to be better, because it *has* to be better.
I suspect that President Bush understands this. So he encouraged ethanol for the reason that sometimes the best way to kill a bad idea is to let it happen.
Eventually, the people who can do math with get agreement from those who learn when they get burned, and the two groups will outnumber the true believers. Then, and only then, we we as a nation be able to move on to a more realistic approach.
WOW! Just another government boondoggle! People just don’t understand that every time the Government gets their hands on something they screw it up.
The government is paying farmers not to grow wheat and instead grow corn for ethanol and now we have a global food crisis. Now you have the flaming democrats wanting government to take over the healthcare industry and take care of all their problems. Wake up America a small less intrusive government is what we need. I say drill through a caribou’s head and get us some oil now! We are not running out of oil, were just not drilling for it.
ping for later
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