Flexible Fuel Vehicles
| General Motors, Chrysler and Ford Motor all have alcohol burning engines. GM and Ford both said that they're teaming up with energy companies on projects that could make so-called E85 a mainstream fuel instead of a Midwest boutique fuel. E85 is a blend that's 85% ethanol — alcohol usually made from corn — and 15% gasoline. President Bush said in his State of the Union speech Jan. 31 2006 that ethanol fuels can help "make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past."
Where to find E85 New Vehicles That Use E85 Financial Incentives Converting You Current Car Home Made E85 In January 2006 only about 500 of 180,000 U.S. stations sell E85 now. GM and Ford lead Asian rivals in developing and marketing E85-compatible vehicles, called FFVs or flex-fuel vehicles. Special fuel systems and engine-computer programming are required to use E85. An FFVs is otherwise identical to a gasoline vehicle, usually is priced the same, and burns any mix of gasoline and ethanol up to E85. GM, with VeraSun and Shell Oil, is adding 26 Chicago-area E85 sites. E85's drawback is reduced fuel economy. For example, GM's 2006 Chevrolet Impala sedan is rated 21 mpg in town, 31 on the highway using gasoline, but only 16 and 23 mpg on E85. Ford pumps up Midwest `ethanol corridor'E85 stations to be featured for drivers along I-55, I-70Associated Press Published June 30, 2006 ALTON, Ill. -- Motorists seeking gasoline blended with ethanol will have one-third more sites to get the fuel in Missouri and Illinois under a program launched Thursday by Ford Motor Co. and the nation's second-largest ethanol producer. Ford and VeraSun Energy Corp. said the program would add more than 50 sites offering E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, largely along Interstate Highway 55 in Illinois and I-70 in Missouri. Officials say it would create an "ethanol corridor" in the Midwest. Ford called the venture necessary, noting that fewer than 750 of the more than 180,000 fuel stations across the country offer E85, which runs in specially made flexible-fuel cars. Most of the E85 fueling stations are in the Midwest. The corridor should enable owners of flexible-fuel vehicles to travel Interstates 55 and 70 between Chicago and Kansas City, Mo., a 1,700-mile round trip, exclusively on renewable, corn-based E85, Ford and VeraSun said. "That is success by any measure," Sue Cischke, Ford's vice president for environmental and safety engineering, said during a news conference at an Alton fueling station that began selling E85 Thursday. "E85 today became a little easier to find." Corn-based, high-octane fuel has risen from obscurity in recent years because it's viewed as a way to help the U.S. cut its dependence on foreign energy sources. Ford and Brookings, S.D.-based VeraSun plan to further stoke consumer awareness of E85. Ford is running an E85-themed ad campaign in certain Illinois and Missouri markets, and informational items, including a map of the new E85 sites, will be sent to owners of Ford's flexible fuel vehicles along the corridor. Thursday's announcement came a day after U.S. automakers said they will double production of flexible-fuel vehicles by 2010, adding vehicles capable of running on ethanol blends and other biofuels and reducing dependence upon foreign oil. VeraSun operates ethanol plants near Aurora, S.D., and Ft. Dodge, Iowa, producing about 230 million gallons of the renewable fuel each year. Decatur-based Archer Daniels Midland Co. is the nation's largest ethanol producer. The nation's 97 ethanol plants are producing about 4.5 billion gallons of the corn-based fuel a year, according to the Renewable Fuels Association, and another 33 plants under construction would boost annual capacity to 6.4 billion gallons within a few years. The renewable fuels standard, passed as part of the 2005 energy bill, stipulates that 4 billion gallons of renewable fuels such as ethanol be used nationwide this year, increasing incrementally to 7.5 billion gallons by 2012. If all the new plants come online by 2008, production could surpass what the government requires that year by as much as 1 billion gallons a year.
EthanolWhat is Ethanol?
What Type of Vehicles Use Ethanol?
As of 2003, the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition estimates that approximately 2 million FFVs have already been sold in the United States, although many buyers remain unaware that they may fuel with E85. Do FFVs Require Special Maintenance Considerations?
Flexible Fuel Vehicle Benefits
How Do Flexible Fuel Vehicles Perform Compared to Gasoline Vehicles?
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The most widely used alternative transportation fuel is ethanol. Ethanol is an alcohol made from corn and other starch crops like barley and wheat that have been converted into simple sugars and then fermented and distilled. Because the feedstocks for producing ethanol are grown, ethanol is a renewable fuel. Vehicles fueled with ethanol have lower carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emissions than conventional gasoline or diesel vehicles. In the United States, we blend more than 1.5 billion gallons of ethanol with gasoline each year to produce E10 (10% ethanol and 90% gasoline). According to the Energy Policy Act of 1992, however, only blends of E85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) and higher are considered alternative fuels. Nearly 150 E85 fueling stations are now operating in more than 20 states. 
Commercially available vehicles that can ve fueled with E85 are called flexible fuel vehicles (or FFVs). They can run on E85, gasoline, or any mixture of the two. Unlike 
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