E15 gas

Which country?
Here is a guide to North America Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada
I do not have a link for Australia.

 

Our arrangements are a bit messed up at the moment... in my state (NSW) as a general rule of thumb only, Regular Unleaded (91 RON) E0 is more readily available at 7-11s or in outer metro areas. 95 RON and 98 RON fuels are also supposedly E0.

 

You say 3%... my fuelly and my other fuel minder app say 7-10%... and that was on my 31 mpg saturn.

 

well I hope you are on planet earth somewhere.

 

Some of uschemical engineers participated in the solvent studies with ehanol on auto parts and theywere stone-walled. Just as the extra cost toi produce ethanol than useful in gasoline. And the actal drop in mpg with its use.
As for resoponsibility, as its the law, no producer is at risk, just the government and we vote 'em in.
Strasvechi, toarish. In case you haven't figured it out we are alredy a communist nation.

 

Lots of metro areas are mandated reformulated gaso (E10) by USEPA Clean Air Act regs based on air quality monitoring.

 

As others have said, there's no reason to use E15. Most pumps are E10 or less. Actually, when a pump says its got up to 10% ethanol, it means it could contain that much, most pumps don't contain the full 10%. It may be 3% or 5% or 8%, but its not always 10%.

With all things considered, ethanol isn't a horrible horrible substance, it just has less energy per gallon (mathematically its about 25% of the energy of regular gasoline). Ethanol does do something good in smaller amounts, it does keep the engine cleaner than if you run 100% pure gasoline. I've seen parts from engines that have never used ethanol and they are indeed much dirtier after 100,000 miles.

BUT, with the lower energy content and the lack of price matching, I don't see a need for more ethanol in hybrids. So I'm not sure running E85, if it were possible, would have any tangible benefits.

I'd much rather see better battery technology with higher energy content per lbs of weight and cars selling for under $20k that get 100 miles a charge along with a gas backup. Someday maybe we'll get there, maybe we won't. Who knows!?

 

Ethanol eats gasket on older cars not designed for it... you are seeing a result of the additives in the gas, not the ethanol.

 

^You're right that ethanol can eat a gasket not designed for it. But that is a car that isn't designed for it, there are materials that don't dissolve when alcohol is used, and cars built for E85 don't have any issues. Prius C isn't designed for E85 so I'd highly recommend against ever trying it.

In so far as the ethanol vs gasoline wars, I don't have a strong opinion either way. Ethanol has its benefits, it does run much cleaner, the CO2 output of ethanol burn is a fraction of that of gasoline. And ethanol does clean engines, I'm not a car expert, but I've seen the pistons and shaft of an engine after it was disassembled after intense E85 use (was a Tahoe) vs a regular gas engine. Ethanol is a cleaner fuel for the engine.

BUT, it has 25% less energy and the cost to make it may not match the price difference with gasoline. So there are drawbacks to it as well.

Personally, my choice for the future is electric technology, which is why I'm happy to be a Prius C owner. It may only have partial electric features, but it certainly increases fuel economy significantly, and I like recapturing energy when I stop.

I think electric technology with improved battery technology is a much, much, much better idea for the future vs relying more on ethanol for fuels, or natural gas for fuels.