Can you put ethanol in a regular car

This is an approach used many years ago in some U. The tractor had a small starting tank supplying light kerosene, and a valve to switch to the less expensive, heavier oil once the engine was warm. Ethanol is not blended for consumer use at the ethanol plant.

Only a small amount of gasoline is added at the ethanol plant to "denature" the ethanol, or render it unusable for human consumption. Ethanol is shipped, usually via semi truck or tanker rail car, to fuel blenders or distributors. Using formulas requested by gasoline retailers, the distributor will load semi trucks or transfer trucks with the appropriate gasoline, ethanol, and other additives.

These trucks then deliver the ethanol-blended gasoline to retailers. It would be costly to install new storage tanks at retail locations in order to have different blends other than E10 and E85 of ethanol, such as E15, E20, or E So, the ethanol industry is advocating for blending pumps at the retail locations.

The new pumps would be programmed to deliver the percentage of ethanol that the consumer desires for vehicle performance and price fluctuations due to volatile petroleum markets, corn markets, and policy. Ethanol is a single molecule or pure chemical. The U. The difference must be imported. Our Mission: Fuel Freedom Foundation is working to reduce the cost of driving your existing car or truck by opening the market to cheaper, cleaner, American-made fuel choices at the pump.

About Us Fuel Freedom is a non-profit with a simple mission: break America's oil addiction by bringing competition to the U. Eh… no. Because a gallon of ethanol contains less energy when burned than a gallon of gasoline, ethanol yields lower fuel economy than gasoline.

Recent investigations by WhatCar? Their tests indicated that less powerful cars would fare worst, with the Dacia Sandero dropping its MPG by Great question!

Long story short, it depends on how the ethanol was produced and how it is used. Generally, using E85 will produce lower emissions than conventional fuel. However, these numbers are based on ethanol refineries using recycled wood chips instead of coal — perhaps a large leap of faith. Not so fast. Burning E85 still releases pollutants; permeation emissions fuel soaking through the pipes of a car and tailpipe emissions.

It happens and more often than you think. The computer will be fooled into thinking the car is running on a "lean" mixture too much air and not enough fuel. So what usually ends up happening in response is that the computer ends up injecting too much fuel to correct a problem that doesn't actually exist , which cuts into your gas mileage and performance. But gas with too much ethanol is. Topics: Ethanol. Posted in: Ethanol. Shop Now.