Originally Posted By: TiredTrucker
You mean buy it, like having to buy EGR, catalytic converters, seat belts, daytime running lights, tire pressure monitoring systems, air bags, etc? Having a EPA mandate on fuel emissions by using ethanol seems like a very slight issue compared to all the other stuff we are forced to buy. My 2013 Silverado, right out of the gate I disabled the daytime running lights, the Automated Fuel Management [censored] on the engine, and a few other things. I had to pay for them, but didn't want them, and in some cases, had to pay even more just to be able to disable them. The AFM might have been pushed by the EPA, but is not mandated to be operational like, say, the catalytic converters and other emission stuff, and the daytime running lights are not mandated by any regulation. The other "safety" things might be justifiable, but I sure don't need beeper alarms going off. So, yet another thing I had to disable...the seat belt chimes reminding me like a little school boy to fasten my seatbelt. Even though all I may be doing is driving the pickup from the barn to the grain bin, or checking a fence line, in which case, I am not wasting time fastening the darn thing. It does make me wonder how much of the purchase price went for this junk.
And having to use 10% ethanol really seems like a joke compared to all of the other stuff we are "forced" to buy. Especially when there has been vehicles using 10% blends for over 4 decades with no issues. Sure, there is the occasional problem that seems to crop up, but most times it is found to be a result of something that was not directly anything related to the ethanol itself.
If you didn't like paying for all the bells and whistles that your truck came with, then why did you buy it? Were you forced to? If i was to buy a farm truck, id personally go with a earlier used model..
As a consumer, do we have that option with ethanol? A few stations and boat marinas within a 60+ mile radius of me offer ethanol free fuel. Most of it is high octane though. Sure looks to me like we are forced to buy something that isn't necessarily good. You seem to already know that ethanol use, like E85 for example, decreases fuel mileage to a point where it is actually cheaper to E10 so I wont go into the details. As stated, at the end of the day, people simply want the cheapest cost per mile. 10% alcohol content sure is nice in the winter time though..
Ethanol just seems like we have an excess of corn and are running out of things to do with it. While we are on the subject, lets talk about the tariff on sugar and how the amount that is imported into the US is limited. For one it helps the US sugar farmers, but it also creates another demand for corn in the form of corn syrup. Do you know how much that stuff is used as opposed to real sugar?? Once again.. another excess in corn that we are trying to find ways to use.
I am by no means anti farmer. I live in Indiana after all.. But i cant help but wonder how things would be different if the govt stayed out of telling people what to grow.