The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 238
In general, the retail cost for E85 should be less, but it's pretty much controlled
by the oil company that's delivering the fuel. They don't want to hurt their regular
gasoline sales. You may be able to find an ethanol producer in Minnesota that
is selling ethanol directly to consumers at their plants and that price might be
more advantageous.
September 26, 2016
Posted by GREG W:
AAA states that average gas price in my area is $2.34 yesterday with E85 being
offered at $1.99. Nationwide it's $2.47 and $1.97. One gallon of gasoline yields
116,000 BTUs, (British Thermal Unit). One gallon of corn based ethanol yields
only 76,000 BTU's. Let's take the lesser of the ethanol prices, $1.97, and multiply that by 1.53 = $3.01 is the over-under or break-even point of ethanol.
Average car drives about 1,000 miles per month (250 miles per week). If the
car holds 15 gallons of gasoline and gets 25 MPG, the range per tank would be
375 miles.
If the same car uses E85 and gets only 65% of that typical mileage, then the
range per tank is 225 miles. That's over 4 fillings per month. However, over a
protracted period, let's say one year, you would have to fill your tank ONLY 22
more times with E85 than otherwise, (54 fill-ups vs 32 fill-ups). That's one more
fill-up every 2 weeks.
Nationwide now:
with gasoline
12,000 miles per year / 25 mpg = 480 gallons
with ethanol
12,000 miles per year / 15 mpg = 800 gallons
800 x $1.97 per gallon = $1,576.00 per year with E85
$390.40 difference.
