Vehicles running on E85 burn cleaner and are cheaper. The cost of E85 where it is available across the country is 10% to 20% cheaper compared to regular gasoline. Aside from being clean and cheap, E85 has several benefits. It is alcohol, so it can be used to clean vehicle parts, which is an advantage for auto repair and mechanics. While the E85 is gaining popularity, it comes with pros and cons that you need to know.
The Pros of E85
1. Clean
Vehicles running on E85 burn cleaner compared to cars running with regular gasoline.
2. Alternative Power Resource
Because gasoline is a commodity that has been rising in costs year after year, E85 can be a great resource for cleaner and cheaper gasoline.
3. Fuel Dependency
The availability of E85 eliminates the United States dependency on foreign oil. By getting rid for oil dependency, the U.S. can lessen cases of deaths, criminal behaviors, and even war from terrorist countries.
The Cons of E85
1. Added Expenses and Reduced Convenience
Every time people argue about the pros and cons of E85, they cannot forget its disadvantages just because the benefits that it offers are great. Alternative fuel still has its drawbacks, and these are probably the primary reasons why E8 is still not readily available throughout the U.S. Added expenses and reduced convenience are probably the major cons of E85. People may find it hard to find vehicle types that run on E85 gasoline.
2. Fuel efficiency
People may need to buy higher amount of fuel and to refill their car tanks more often compared to traditional gasoline. Sad but true, E85 contains less combustible energy per unit volume compared to tradition gas.
3. Economic Drawbacks
While E85 is designed to help make economic gains, it actually reduces the economy by 20%. The car tank filled with ethanol gasoline can take you just about 80% to what a regular gasoline can do. This means that you will spend high amount of money for clean gasoline. The rising demand and limited supply of E85 is associated with extra cost and that extra cost will increase its price per gallon in the years to come.
4. Convenience
While E85 is a clean source of power, it can be hard to find a gas station that carries ethanol gasoline. The United States has 180, 000 gas stations, but less than 1000 have E85 pumps. Most of the gas stations with E85 pumps are located in the Midwest Corn Belt states. These states include Minnesota with 300 E85 fuel sites, Missouri with 63, Illinois with 132, South Dakota with 50, and Iowa with 56.
5. Limited Selection
E85 vehicle shoppers have limited selection for vehicle types to buy. Vehicles that run with E85 include the popular models such as Ford F-150 pickup, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Chevy Tahoe, and Impala.
The debate for the pros and cons of E85 will go forever and the most important thing to remember is that this alternative resource for power can help the environment from being devastated by pollution from vehicle emissions.
