The Ethanol Effect -- Any solution?

Winter is far more likely the cause than ethanol.

I easily get 50 MPG in the Summer using E10. But not in the Winter.

But when Winter arrives, the colder temperatures, the lower humidity, and the formula change of the fuel all cause an efficiency drop. Combine that with the natural loss of PSI in your tires and demands of the heater, you've got a recipe for much lower MPG.

Check your tires. Block your grille. Pray for an early Spring.
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You can only blame ethanol for a 3% drop in MPG (10% ethanol with 30% lower energy content). As usual, John is correct. You can compensate a bit for the colder weather by:

1. Make sure that your tire pressure hasn't dropped. It always does in cold weather unless you pump more air into the tires.
2. Install a higher temperature thermostat to maintain the engine temperature in cold weather.
3. Install and use an Engine Block Heater. There are provisions for one in a Prius and they are common in Canada.
4. Read up about "Grill Blocking". Just make sure that you instrument your Prius to track Engine and Inverter temperature if you do limit air flow in cold weather.

JeffD

 

Ditto the previous posts. Tire air pressure at 42/40. Grill blocking improved my mileage almost 10 mpg.

However, I was in a Home Depot a few weeks ago advertising an additive to counter-act ethanol for small engines like lawnmowers, but I didn't check it out. When I went back, the display was gone. Anyone know about this?

 

If you can stand the cold, not using the cabin heater can noticeably increase MPGs. Of course always use the defroster as needed for safety.

 

I just bought my '04 in Decmber and was only getting 42 MPG. Grill blocking, 44/42psi tires and careful driving has got me over 50 MPG now in mild winter temps.(45F)

 

Agreed. The OP should look at these. Also, the OP's commute has surely changed.
Why does mileage drop in winter? — Autoblog Green
Cold Weather Vehicle Fuel Mileage – Why Winter Fuel Economy Drops – Fuel Mileage Drop in Vehicles
Car Talk
Why does gas mileage drop in winter? | StarTribune.com

 

As already pointed out, ethanol can't have that much impact.

Please answer the questions at Fuel economy complaints/queries? and post them here. That will give us many more clues.

If your typical new driving conditions are colder and for shorter distances, mpg will get clobbered.

 

What altitude in Arizona and what in Colorado? I have no idea if that is a factor though.

 

I have used a product in my small gas engines called Star Tron by Starbrite. It claims to combat the effects of ethanol in fuel, I have not used it in my car yet. We have E10 fuel here and I am averaging in the mid 50's so far but I do not have the cold or winter blend fuel to contend with either.

Star Tron Enzyme Fuel Treatment - Star Tron Story

There are a few ethanol fuel threads/posts already try searching those, others have reported using Star Tron.

 

Ethanol-tainted fuel has caused me a lot of problems, gas mileage being the least. I have a '91 Toyota Truck that has been pretty much ruined by ethanol-tainted fuel. I am trying to figure out how to convert it to EV at a reasonable price at the moment. Then the whole idea of ethanol-tainted fuel will have back-fired on those that have pushed it on all of us just so they could make a few more dollars.

If there is a lawsuit against the fuel industry, or whoever is pushing this crap, please let me know. I would be very happy to have my name on the list of plaintiffs!!!

 

Altitude, by itself, actually helps mpg slightly, though less on Toyota and Honda hybrids than on traditional cars.

Hills and mountains are a separate issue, and the results are highly dependent on the particulars of the situation.

The defendants will be congresscritters, legislators, and government administrators who have immunity as part of their job function.

 

The ultimate oxymoron, government intelligence....

 

Toyota designed the Prius to work with E10. There's no point in getting bent out of shape because of a story about a car from 20 years ago.

 

E10 = water magnet with gas. Also E10 is driving up food prices due to increased corn consumption to make E10 (check out todays' USA Today for more info).

I use eithe Star Tron or Seafoam for moisture issues with E10. Using either of these products hasn't led to an increase in mpgs.

DBCassidy

 

If the OP doesn't have any water problems then additives would be a wasted expense. His MPG drop is almost certainly entirely caused by the colder weather.

If it helps, think of E10 as getting a continuous dose of injector cleaner.

 

I live in CO and my average dropped quite a bit this winter. 43 down to 38 (really cold + snow tires, not to mention there's a large [taxi] light on top that adds to the drag). CO is also quite mountainous, if you live in/near the front range at all.

Fuel additives don't help because it's so dry here anyways. I would recommend, however, that if you're using a higher octane fuel to come down to 85. There's no added benefit to using the higher octane at higher altitudes.

Haven't tried air blocking to keep the engine compartment warm, and I'm not sure about the tire pressure measurements of the snow tires, but I'll be sure to check it out. I could REALLY use any extra MPG i can get!

 

wow all this talk about ethanol makes me want to chime in a little. Most gas stations state up to e10. During different seasons gas company's change how much actual ethanol they add to. colder seasons its very low because of hard start/drive ability issues associated with alcohol.

I am a 8 year EV tech. I build and help design EV vehicles for the government and I can tell u that Batteries do not like cold weather. We have seen 50% decrease in electric vehicles millage just due to cold weather! I know Prius is a hybrid and it will compensate for this by keeping the engine on a little more. to combat most cold weather situations most people actually use a battery blanket to keep the batteries warm and keep their charge up and batteries happy. E10 is really not an issue because Toyota did design the prius to run that type of fuel, where most gas says up to E10.

I hope this helps