Good points, I suppose, and I’ve also heard that the ethanol fuel deal is becoming more economically feasible.
So when they can do it without tax dollar subsidies, sign me up.
Well, oil is subsidized?
It seems to me strange that these kinds of emotional arguments have to be made (with respect to Ethanol), for my part the real downside is that the engines are not tuned for alky. A “flex fuel” engine isn’t (yet anyway) optimized for the slower burning alcohol, and the compression ratio is way too low regardless. Timing can also be advanced quite a bit, and at least with computerized fuel injection, the pulse width can lengthened.
In real cold weather, gasoline is much easier to use, as it starts off better. It’s possible to fill up with, mix, or end up with anywhere from 10% to 85%
alcohol and everything in between and it just seems like there must be too many compromises made in tuning to make a flex fuel auto.
My point is that ethanol and gasoline are very different fuels and “adaptive strategies” aren’t quite there yet. It’s great stuff but it’s like burning 120 octane in a lawnmowers, no point in it if the engine isn’t setup to take advantage of it.
And drop the ethanol mandates.