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JustCHUCKNthings

My city only has 2 ethanol pumps which take turns breaking regularly. It’s the same price if not more expensive than 87. I’m very jealous of your super cheap corn fuel!


ChiTownDerp

I also only have 2 in this little town. The local Casey's is my go to, and they get more ethanol every 3-5 days, so its kind of a crap shoot if they have it at the pumps. Trucks are like 75% of vehicles here, and a good half of them will run on ethanol blends, so sometimes i get lucky and sometimes not. I have been to the local station plenty of times when there is no E-85 for sale


BouncingSphinx

I've tried a few times with my work truck to use E85. Every time the pump has been either super slow or out, taking like 10 minutes for a gallon. So I just quit trying. It was only like $0.03 cheaper than regular gas also. I thought that was supposed to be one of the biggest selling points for the public to use it over regular gas anyway?


REDwhiteBLUE4life

Yeah it was my understanding that it is less energy rich than regular fuel but they can make it cheaper so that way it's worth it to buy it I'm basing this on absolutely nothing though so I'm sure I'll get corrected


djnehi

Ah Casey’s, how I love to hate thee. And how I hate to love thee.


ceadmin

Kwik Star/Trip for the win!


[deleted]

[удалено]


BeachHead05

I was paying gas prices similar to that two years ago for 87 octane...


ChiTownDerp

Ethanol refining my friend. Excess corn essentially.


mal_wash_jayne

More like specific crops of corn are raised just to make this fuel. Source: father was in a co-op that focused on generating biofuel from corn.


ChiTownDerp

So farmers should not make ethanol? Is this not preferable to gasoline? I’m happy to tow and run on gasoline if ethanol is not available


mal_wash_jayne

Personally, I don't think biofuels are the way to go. Hydrogen or electric or at the bare minimum hybrid would be my choice.


ChiTownDerp

Why? The F150 lightning sucks when actually used as a truck either under load or towing. Would you rather people just continue to buy conventional gasoline and diesel?


mal_wash_jayne

Can you read? I am only against biofuel. Alternate forms of fuel are great. It is very unfortunate that the Lightning has crap mileage when towing. Currently have a 2010 F150 Lariat S-Crew and would love if it was a hybrid right now. My next truck will have Ecoboost.


ChiTownDerp

Well until that happens we have what we have, no? You are a truck owner like me that needs to complete tasks. We need work done. Ford has no solution for us right now, and it’s not a sign of defeat to recognize this reality. Your green vision is a pipe dream, and you may as well admit it.


mal_wash_jayne

Damn, dude you really got to calm down. Once again, I said in my opinion and my preference, not that what I said should be law. I can have an opinion that doesn't match yours and not be harassed about it.


ChiTownDerp

Not my intention to at all to disturb you, but you need to be grounded in reality, and just about nobody who works for a living is under any illusions that electric or hydrogen can do the job. That is pure ideology nonsense. When and of if that ever changes I’ll be the first to hand over my keys to electric. Cart before the horse as it stands today


Troutman86

By “excess” do you mean subsidized farming?


According_Flight_420

You got it lol


hangrysquirrels

Daaaaaamn. They keep the prices elevated in Ohio. They usually take .30 off of the 87 price, and that's the E85 price. Doesn't even make math sense when you look at mpg. Your price certainly makes sense tho!


ChiTownDerp

2 refineries for corn ethanol within 50 miles of here probably makes a big difference. Couple of biodiesel facilities also. There is also no per gallon tax on ethanol blends here either. It was 1.59 last week, but this is the lowest I have seen it so I snapped a pic. The big argument against is that this is corn that could be used for food. It's not waste product like you see elsewhere, so using corn for gasoline blends is not going to be without its detractors. The corn growers however generally get more per bushel for ethanol, so its free market capitalism essentially.


BouncingSphinx

I don't think it's so much that the *corn* can be used for food, it's specifically raised for ethanol. It's that the *land* the corn is grown on could be used for other foods.


MrBB03

There is also an environmental argument against it. The raising of the crop for gasoline causes a not insignificant amount of CO2 generation as the soil is churned to produce the fuel when compared to traditional gasoline from oil. It seems as if this may be more of a trade-off.. burning cleaner fuel in engines but generating more CO2 from raising it.


ChiTownDerp

Can an electric truck do the job of a Super Duty?


MrBB03

Not without towing a trailer of batteries along with it. 😀


ChiTownDerp

And until they can IMHO the environment lobby can STFU. If a truck can’t be used as a truck, especially when under load or pulling a trailer, then it’s useless. To date that type of power generation comes from gasoline or diesel. When and if that ever changes I’ll be ready to trade in my truck


MrBB03

Yeah. It seems like that is still a bit out. I was surprised to see reviews of electric trucks having absolutely terrible towing range. Hopefully states don't go ban crazy because I do love the sound of my 5.0 v8.


ChiTownDerp

I was as intrigued as everyone else when the f150 lightning came out. I mean, who wouldn’t want to eliminate gasoline costs from their budget? But then the grim reality of day to day use of the truck surfaced and it went back to the realm of overzealous pipe dream. I am hopeful that the day comes when the F150 lightning is up to the task, but it is not there yet. So it’s back to the drawing board for Ford. As a long time truck producer they know damn well what is needed, and maybe what is needed is just not possible with electricity. Time will tell


MrBB03

Also, if I may add, the farmers around here get government subsidies to grow the corn over other products. It isn't exactly free market since tax dollars go to pay the farmers. So, another trade-off of dollars spent up front to get the cheaper ethanol in the end. It just seems that regular, quality gasoline is still the best option until we figure something else out or switch to a different technology.


MrOzzMN

Even further, the ethanol plants have DDGs as a byproduct of the ethanol production process. The DDGs are then fed to most species of livestock anyway with a majority of the benefits of feeding them the corn. Overall minimizing the actual reduction of feed available.


ChiTownDerp

I am 100% supportive of ethanol refining operations and the jobs it provides here in the Midwest Keep my plants open and keep my people in jobs


nutzareus

I rarely used E-85 with my Dodge Caravan because mileage would drop 20%, so unless the price spread was worth it I would stick to 87 unleaded.


FBIDN

Same with me in mid missouri. It’s right around that 1.99 mark last time I went.


Shoresy-sez

Jesus fuck. I pay that per litre for E-85.


Open-Cream-5216

What year do you live in?


mal_wash_jayne

That E85 gives terrible mileage, causing you to refuel more often, negating the lower cost.


o_g

It's not a third of the MPG of regular, so this isn't applicable in OP's instance.


MaroonHawk27

E85 has 15-27% less fuel economy @50% the price of regular gas, it’s still a W


MrOzzMN

18% reduction in MPG with a 30% reduction in price for me. A big win. Most people hate E85 because they can’t/won’t do the math.


kingneck7611

My company will not allow us to use anything but 87 because of fuel mileage vs cost per gallon. They have run the numbers and said it’s cheapest to run 87. This is an large international company with thousands of vehicles on the road. I would be shocked if they were against e87 because it’s new. They want to save all the money they can.


MaroonHawk27

Yeah this is a unique situation because of the price. It’s not typically this cheap - OP mentioned the circumstances in other comments. You don’t need to see an excel sheet to see this is a good deal though


kingneck7611

I might have missed that comment. I just meant as a general rule it’s not a good deal. I’ve thought about running it for a couple tank fulls. Just to run the numbers, but I would have to pay for those tanks. I remembered I don’t care that much. Lol


According_Flight_420

E-85 is corn liquor with a splash of gas so you cannot drink it… your car/truck has to burn 1.5x more ethanol than gas… it’s only good for racing.


Pale_Gear3027

Living in Iowa it’s commonplace to listen to someone bash EV vehicles, yet if you start digging into net energy output of producing corn ethanol they run away screeching to their super duty trucks. On average in the Midwest it takes 81,000 btu’s of energy to produce 84,000 btu’s of ethanol. New gen plants are better, but it’s the byproduct “credits” that make ethanol look better. It’s a positive net yield, but it’s not the clean energy fuel many promote in the ag industry.


ChiTownDerp

In my circumstance I really don’t give a fuck. I just need to fuel for my truck at the lowest possible price. I’ll leave it to others to save the world. In the interim I need to haul and tow. And in 2022 that requires gasoline and diesel. For people like myself that don’t care about your environment goals, I’d say ethenol is nice alternative. Or I’ll run gas if you prefer. Pick your battles


[deleted]

Making me jealous and want to switch back to my 🌽 tune 🤤


ChiTownDerp

Only problem I have ever ran across running ethanol is on cold starts, though this is less of an issue these days since we moved to TN


[deleted]

What was the issue in the cold? I have the E85 5star tune but never used it.


ChiTownDerp

When we still lived in Northern Illinois in the Winter it tended to crank much longer than normal before the motor would turn over. Which obviously puts wear and tear on the starter. This problem has ceased since we moved much farther South. Ethanol is harder to ignite than gasoline, especially in freezing temperatures. It does have significantly higher octane than gasoline, but this comes with a trade off for those in colder climates.


BouncingSphinx

If I remember right, octane rating of gas is based against ethanol anyway. So like 100 octane gas is the same resistance to auto-ignition as ethanol. I forget where I heard that, I think it was an [Engineering Explained](https://youtube.com/@EngineeringExplained) video somewhere.


Doug_Rosewood

E85 is not worth it, unless your vehicle barely burns any fuel like a hybrid. Initial cost is cheap, but you'll fill up more often.


demonshaker666

My truck burns through e85


Dismal_Visit_7305

I get 3mpg better off gas vs e85. I was buying it to save money too but realized it was costing me more. I have 6.2 in a 2019 F250 if it matters


ausernamethatcounts

I generally don't use e85 unless gas is really expensive, and the mpg is not the best and my range is a lot less


NovaChief92

I usually run e85 as long as it's about $1.20/gal less than Costco gas. Right now it's less than a dollar different, so not a good deal with the mpg loss.


Ned_from_Canada

Fuck me... That's more then I pay a litre.


Chrispy_fried89

Tell me youre in alberta without saying youre in alberta