Just like the title says, the first station in the Cleveland area that sells E-85 is now open. For those of you in the N.E. Ohio area that have a FFV capable vehicle, the station is Frank's Sunoco on State Rd. in Parma, just south of Basista Furniture on the East side of the road. Earlier today while I was there, the corn squeezins was 2.49/gal. They also sell biodiesel if you happen to have a deisel.

 

Don't get me wrong I can't wait until its here in Upstate NY but $2.49 seems high compared to everywhere else. Typically 70 cents to one dollar less than regular.

 

While I was there, 93 octane gas was 3.09 and E-85 was 2.49. Reg ol' 87 was 2.79. When more station come along that sell it the price should come down a bit, but right now, it's literally the only game in town.

 

To be more economical than regular, doesn't the E-85 price have to be 25% lower than the regular unleaded to make up for the loss in mileage?

To those running the E-85 what kind of mileage are you all getting compared to regular?

 

Typically its about a 25-35% loss in mileage according to consumer reports.

 

I heard that you should change your oil more frequently if you use E-85? Does anybody have any input or experience with that?......I have a FFV SCREW & cannot wait till E-85 gets here!.............

 

05RedFX4, Full Circle Fuel's in Oberlin just south of the college on 58 has been selling Bio and E85 for years.

Franks is much closer (5 miles from me) but they were technically not the first in the area.

 

What would happen if I ran e85 in my 4.2?

 

nothing good

 

If the vehicle is not specifically set up to run E-85 (FFV labeling, or the like), will likely encounter problems due to fuel system corrosion with long term usage.

E-85 has 75% of the heat content (BTUs) of regular unleaded, so in theory, it should sell for 75% of the price and deliver 75% of the fuel economy to break-even on a cost per mile basis.

However, due to its higher octane, there may be some increased performance and economy benefits which may move the breakeven percentage up into the 80+% range, if the engine is properly set up to take advantage of this.

 

Interesting...I haven't had an FFV vehicle ever, but the last time I looked at it the price was the same if not a little more than regular. Nice to see it's come down since then...almost a viable alternative...so long as you have a vehicle that can run it...and I'm almost sure my truck can't. Shame as that's right around the corner from me.

 

Yeah, I knew about the one out in Oberlin, there is also one in Norwalk, and another in Medina County. What I meant was it was the first in the Cleveland metro area which is basically Cuyahoga County. Franks is actually fairly close to 480 so it's not that much trouble for me to swing by and fuel up. The one in Oberlin is quite a ways out of my way, the only reason I go into Lorain county is to buy the old lady's smokes, there is no sin tax in Lorain so they are 4 dollars cheaper a carton.

 

I wouldn't bother with it if my truck couldn't run it. Since yours is an 04, then yours is not a FFV, they were not available until 06 and only on the 5.4's. You could upgrade to make it work, another member has done it. At least you will need to upgrade the fuel sytem and alter the programming in the PCM to compensate for the E-85.

 

Yea, I'm not all that hot to switch over, but it's nice to see that the prices are getting there where it's an alternative worth considering. The last time I looked at it, the gas was more expensive and you got less mpg with it. Not exactly conducive to getting folks to make the switch. Now that it's worth considering, maybe more folks will use it, more stations will carry it, competition will help the price and maybe we can see some good benefits from it. But of course, the first step was making it attractive to use.

 

If you want to know if any of your vehicles are FFV's, goto the the following page from the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition:
http://www.e85fuel.com/e85101/flexfuelvehicles.php

For a listing of E85 Stations in the state of Ohio (and beyond), try the following links:
http://www.e85refueling.com/location...p?state=OHOhio
http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/prog...ate.php/OH/E85

As for mpg compared to gasoline, numbers are all over the board. Anywhere from a 5% loss to a 25% loss, which is why Brazillians carry calculators!