Too few spots to fuel

[question everything]

Too few spots to fuel

By Tim Malloy, Associated Press
LA Daily News

A federal push for cars that run on an alternative fuel straight from the heartland isn't winning many converts among American drivers - but is a hit with automakers who use it to skirt mileage standards. Five million cars across the country are equipped to run on the fuel, but almost no one uses it outside the corn belt.

Fortunately for carmakers, a 1988 law designed to decrease oil use gives them credits for building vehicles that run on the alternative fuel whether anyone uses it or not. Those credits allow automakers to relax gasoline efficiency standards on other vehicles - which drives oil consumption up instead of down.

The situation would be different if many more people replaced the gasoline in their tanks with the fuel known as E85 - a combination of 15 percent gasoline and 85 percent ethanol, a corn-based additive. Flex-fuel cars can run on gas, E85, or combinations of the two. Ethanol supporters say the extra oil consumption is part of the growing pains of the flex-fuels program, which they say will decrease oil use when more E85 fueling stations are available to drivers.

(snip)

Relaxed fuel economy standards resulting from flex-fuel credits, meanwhile, were responsible for increased petroleum consumption totaling 772 million gallons - enough gas for a Jeep Grand Cherokee to drive from San Diego to Boston and back more than 8,000 times. Often cheaper than gasoline, E85 is known for getting fewer miles to the gallon but higher octane, resulting in more horsepower.

The fuel works in more than 30 models, including General Motor's Yukon, Chevrolet's Silverado, and Ford's Taurus, but many people don't know it. Ford and GM have only recently begun national ad campaigns to promote their vehicles' flex-fuel capabilities, trying to lure consumers skittish over gas prices. Drivers can see if their vehicle will run on E85 by checking the owner's manual or a Web site, e85fuel.com, that lists compatible models. Ethanol promoters say motorists are often stunned to learn their cars will run on the fuel, but even those well-schooled in E85 may need to drive hundreds of miles to buy it.

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http://www.dailynews.com/business/ci_3378991

[firefox]

1. Three dollar a gallon gas will change that

There is only one place in Statesville, NC that sells E85 and it is off the Interstate at a truck stop. The full-fledged truck stop also sells biodiesel that was widely accepted by truckers when it was 30 cents cheaper than diesel fuel when everything was so high a few months back.

There is also E15 which can be used in almost all cars from what I am told. I think it should be a national requirement that all stations carry E15, at least until we find something to export to pay for all this oil.

[Steve A Play]

2. Note the way this article is framed

to make it look like the use of ethanol causes the increased use of petroleum rather than the government allowing "relaxed fuel economy standards"!

I also love the way they worked in the line, "but even those well-schooled in E85 may need to drive hundreds of miles to buy it" in a way that Joe Sixpac might think that they have to do it to fuel up that kind of vehicle even though it states above that it will also run on regular gas.

I give this article a B+ for information content but an F for presentation.

Steven P.