E85 / E15 - Saw Something New To Me Today

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Apr 27, 2013
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Location
MO USA
I had a trip down south today just out of the city (STL). Stopped to buy fuel and used a new pump dispenser that I have never seen before (Wayne Helix).

This dispenser could dispense all three grades of unleaded, plus it had E85, and E15 with dedicated hoses. I assume that most stations that seem to carry E85, do so from a dedicated storage tank. I am not sure if the pump can blend the appropriate % of ethanol needed depending on the product, but I have never seen this before where E15, and E85 had dedicated nozzles on the same pump.

I know here on BITOG, ethanol seems to be viewed as "love or hate it" thing. Personally I use E85 whenever I can as one of my cars is Flex Fuel capable. Today I payed 3.46 per gallon. This station also seemed to be heavily promoting E15, so my gut is telling me that this could be mainstream fuel (at least here in the mid-west) in the near future.

I am curious to those of you have E15 available in your area. Please comment if you do and where you are located.

I tried to post this in another thread already started on the subject, but that thread appears to be closed, not sure why.
 
We used to have 2 hose pumps
1 hose dispensed any grade of e10 you wanted
The other any percentage of ethanol you wanted e15,e20,e30,e50,e85

This pump has 4 hoses, the e free are on the same hose

6393E0E3-C32C-412B-8746-C3CC62A7CE30.jpeg
 
Just came from STL, as my in-laws live there. Its pretty common in Arkansas, if you ever visit. Casey's there carry fuel this way. I've been waiting for more places in STL to have these setups. Use the Gasbuddy App to locate the stations that are essentially set up this way between MO and AR.
 
Found a few pumps setup with the E85 in one hose, E15 in the same or another hose, and the other three grades of E10 in the same hose.

Most common seems to be one hose for regular E10, one hose for super 88 E15, one hose for premium (either E10 or E0).

Filled up the work truck last week with E85 for 2.99 a gallon - no special discounts. Been running E15 super 88 in my 2016 F150 and 2021 Explorer as locally I've been able to find it 25-40 cents cheaper a gallon than E10.
 
The 3 Sheetz stations near me that I know have E85 and E15 have dedicated hoses for each. Probably all Sheetz stations with E85 and E15 are this way.
Same here in the Richmond VA area Sheetz. All stations here are 87/89/93 with all being E10. Never seen e-free gas nor would I ever want to use it unless it was for my lawn mower....gotta have that corn so no knocky knock!
 
Same here in the Richmond VA area Sheetz. All stations here are 87/89/93 with all being E10. Never seen e-free gas nor would I ever want to use it unless it was for my lawn mower....gotta have that corn so no knocky knock!

I use E10 in my riding mower, I leave whatever is left in the tank at the end of the season there, and for 5 years running now it always starts up in the spring without a problem. I do add a little TC-W3 to it towards the end of the season. And I also add some Techron once in a while, too.
 
I use E10 in my riding mower, I leave whatever is left in the tank at the end of the season there, and for 5 years running now it always starts up in the spring without a problem. I do add a little TC-W3 to it towards the end of the season. And I also add some Techron once in a while, too.
As do I b/c I don't really have any other option...I drain my tank fully/run it until it dies at the end of each season and keep Stabil in my fuel can...zero drama.
 
As do I b/c I don't really have any other option...I drain my tank fully/run it until it dies at the end of each season and keep Stabil in my fuel can...zero drama.

There's a gas station that sells E0 gas, but it's 20 miles away somewhere in Warrenton, VA. (Which just so happens to be outside of the Northern VA counties where oxygenated gas is REQUIRED by the EPA, so no getting E0 gas in those counties, one of which I live in).

Whatever benefit running E0 gas in my mower may provide, it's not worth a 40 mile round trip to go get it.
 
The only exotic gas I've seen around here is a Murphy Express (right next to Walmart) in Elizabethtown that sells Ethanol Free with its own hose/nozzle. IIRC, it's about 40-50 cents more than E10. I fill my gas containers for the OPE with it whenever possible.

Last month I made a trip to Colorado and I can't recall Missouri having any E-15 stations on I-70, though there probably was some. But Kansas was chock full of them, mostly the 24/7 branded stations. What bothered me was that the advertised price (viewed from the interstate) was the E-15 gas, and if you wanted regular E10, it was 20+ cents more. However if you drove across the street to the Shell (or BP and others) station that didn't sell E15, you could get E10 for about the same price as the E15 station which advertised their "cheap" price with huge signs you could view from the interstate. That 1 point octane increase with E15 isn't worth the gas mileage penalty.

I don't see E85 nearly as often in my travels as I used to 10+ years ago. IMO, the only thing E85 is good for is filling up rentals and U-haul trucks before you turn them in.

We're down to $3.29 for regular unleaded here. I'm plenty happy with E10. In my experience the cost savings versus fuel economy penalty doesn't work out with increased ethanol percentages.
 
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Up here in North Dakota, every station has ethanol free gas but your gonna pay for it. I tried e-85 and it was so inefficient it just wasn’t worth it and this was in a flex fuel vehicle. I use e-free gas in my boat, motorcycles and generators when I can help it. I’ve had some pretty serious carburetor corrosion in some older equipment. Newer stuff seems to be made for it with few issues.
 
I always find it interesting when people note that using the E15 won't work economically... For the last 6+ months, I've been buying E15 for 25-40+ cents cheaper per gallon. It results in 1-2% lower fuel economy than E10 fuels do. When gas is E10 is $4 a gallon, 2% lower is: $3.92, and I've been at $3.75 to 3.60.

Pretty much been applying a if its more than 10 cents cheaper a gallon, the math works out just fine.

I get the argument when E10 and E15 priced the same.
 
We don’t have e-15 or at least it’s rare here so have no experience with it but e-85 was 20-30% less efficient in my Tahoe and suburban, they are older though. As in 2008/2011, maybe it’s better now. E-85 is cheaper but not that much. I wish they had pursued alcohol as fuel Vs electric, I think it would had been a more natural progression and if a car was tuned just for high percentage alcohol I bet it would be much more efficient.
 
We used to have 2 hose pumps
1 hose dispensed any grade of e10 you wanted
The other any percentage of ethanol you wanted e15,e20,e30,e50,e85

This pump has 4 hoses, the e free are on the same hose

View attachment 111946
We simply don't have such options here.

Tell me other than the price and obvious 87 v. 88 - What is the difference between the 88 Blue and 87 Red without the ETOH?
 
Going from memory, but the station where I get ethanol has 5 blends (10-20-30-50-85) and one hose. I typically get E-85 due to the cost. Often, I’m adding E/85 to a tank half filled with regular unleaded.
 
I always find it interesting when people note that using the E15 won't work economically... For the last 6+ months, I've been buying E15 for 25-40+ cents cheaper per gallon. It results in 1-2% lower fuel economy than E10 fuels do. When gas is E10 is $4 a gallon, 2% lower is: $3.92, and I've been at $3.75 to 3.60.

Pretty much been applying a if its more than 10 cents cheaper a gallon, the math works out just fine.

I get the argument when E10 and E15 priced the same.
I don't get it either - the slight drop in mpgs should never offset the cost differential. 5% more E should be almost impercieveable. I run e-blends up to 25% and yes, 25% e vs. 10% I can clearly see that my highway mileage drops a bit but even then...it's not by a large amount.
 
We simply don't have such options here.

Tell me other than the price and obvious 87 v. 88 - What is the difference between the 88 Blue and 87 Red without the ETOH?
Something interesting is that pump may be missing legal labeling mumbo jumbo.

Generally there should be the orange flex fuel warning above e15+ alongside the federal law blah blah dispense only in vehicles 2001 and newer.

88e15 at many pumps will also carry a “this fuel provided by a 3rd party and is not t tested for XXXXX brand top tier requirements “
 
Something interesting is that pump may be missing legal labeling mumbo jumbo.

Generally there should be the orange flex fuel warning above e15+ alongside the federal law blah blah dispense only in vehicles 2001 and newer.

88e15 at many pumps will also carry a “this fuel provided by a 3rd party and is not t tested for XXXXX brand top tier requirements “
Ah, so you are saying the blue 88 octane has >15% EtOH. Makes sense now, with the decently lower price.
 
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