There are a lot of
E85 haters out there, and we’ve certainly seen quite a few of you grace the comments section of this site. To the
chagrin of Bob Lutz and George Bush, you may have a point.
Turns out that E85 is quite a bit more expensive than
gas — it takes 1.4 times as much of the 85/15 ethanol/gasoline mixture to go the same distance as gasoline,
according to an article in USA Today. The paper points out a situation in Nebraska, where E85 cost $2.16
compared to $2.06 for gasoline blended with 10 percent ethanol, sometimes the Midwest’s version of regular
unleaded. The math just doesn’t add up, and consumers aren’t ready to spend more money for less
efficiency.
The lack of demand due to the higher price could adversely affect efforts by Ford, GM and the
Bush administration to push E85 as a viable alternative to gasoline, setting back plans to reduce America’s dependence
on foreign oil.