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Hybrid Vehicles Ethanol - E85 FlexFuel Welcome E85 Enthusiasts!
12 messages, Last post on Aug 28, 2007 at 3:40 AM
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Replying to: eaa (Mar 31, 2006 2:09 pm) |
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I am going to be in the market for a Used GM pick up. I would like for it to be E85 capable. By looking at E85 web sites, it looks like the Chevy Silverado starts to be E85 capable in '02, but only on selected vehicles where the 8th digit in the VIN # is a 'Z'. I looked on a few different used vehicle web sites & did not find any 8th digit Z's. I did find 11th digit Z's & 8th digit X's & V's etc. Any body know how many E85 capable trucks GM made? - that is how common were they? any other info would be helpful... Thanks |
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Replying to: maytum (Apr 24, 2006 6:51 am)
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Replying to: uniongodess (Apr 26, 2006 10:42 am) They started their conversation after the 1973 crisis and it's finally has paid off for them. They can even sell alcohol to us in the USA. They have actually taken themselves off the oil greed system. Too bad Wash DC is politics as usual and we won't make a change. Did anyone else see the politics in front of the gas stations for the foto op...... and when they all left they were driving thier Support Usama Vechicles (SUV). What another waste of self center political scum just wasting time for a foto op. Yea, and as usual it was of both parties as usual and absolutly no regard to the well being of the public. Yes I know ther are many many reasons for higher $ gas besides greed but with politics as usual all the public loses.
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Replying to: gem069 (Apr 29, 2006 12:50 pm) I agree, our politicians from both Dem and Rep parties don't seem to want to fix the problem. For as much as we all b!tch about how much money the oil companies are making, do you realize that the government has collected more money in gas/oil tax revenue than all the oil company's profits combined? But of course, it is easy for our politician to point fingers at the oil companies and say look how much profit they are making! We rarely hear politicians saying we are taking in too much money in taxes, let's role back some of them. Getting back to E85 vs gas, there are many reasons why E85 is not the right answer. Though it looks appealing with its lower emissions, E85 gets significantly lower mpg than gas. Alcohol is very corrosive compared to gas, and there is no way currently to retrofit a car to run on E85 - thus you would effectively force people to have to buy new cars to run the fuel. Finally, the refining and distribution capacity of E85 is very far from where it needs to be for a nation-wide fuel alternative. Currently, we should be demanding that oil be removed from the futures market to relive the pressure on oil prices from speculators; open up drilling off the Gulf of Mexico, coast of California and in ANWR (interestingly people complain all the time about the environmental impact of such drilling, but is it better for us to undertake such drilling with all the strict regulations of the USA or better for any of the Middle East countries that have no regulations for environmental protection to do the drilling); promote the production of oil refineries so that we aren't running at 95-98% refining capacity (and the next big storm that hits the coast creams us again); give tax credits to companies and individuals to use hybrid/alternative fuel vehicles and significantly fund the research on alternative fuel sources. |
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Replying to: gem069 (Apr 29, 2006 12:50 pm) That is not even close to true. About 20% run on ethanol. They mostly sell Flex fuel vehicles as last time they pushed ethanol the source dried up due to high sugar prices. People were left with E100 only vehicles and no ethanol to run them. Their oil independence is a direct result of a large oil find in Brazil. If you research Petrobras you will get an idea of why they are now an exporter of oil and ethanol. The number one fund in my 401K has a large amount of Petrobras and it has pushed the fund up by 9% through the first 3 months of 2006. Don't believe headlines in US newspapers. They generally only tell a small portion of the story. |
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Etahnol, in this country, is made from Corn. In Brazil, where ethanol is an important part of the fuel supply, they use sugar. Corn is also used to make whiskey. Ethanol, in the part of Arkansas where I trace my bloodline, is known as moonshine. Looks like the Beverly Hillbillies and the Dukes of Hazzard were right. Moonshine really is better to run your car on 
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Replying to: eaa (Mar 31, 2006 2:09 pm) So please continue to do your homework. Meanwhile, I couldn't agree more; We indeed must become more independant or , as oil dwindles (for one reason or the other) all our hybrid/GAS vehicles will be soon parked & worthless. |
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| Yes, some of the silverado's from 02-06 did have the capability to burn E85. They are however few and far between. Alot of the people that have these dont even know they are flex fuel as the most common way of telling is the sticker on the inside of the fuel door. My father has an 04 that was ordered with the flex fuel option. My 07 is also a flex fuel, although now there are many more silverados with this feature and it is much easier to tell FFV's from non FFV's. In our personal experience with E85 vs. Gas, we need a $.50 gallon different to come out even. If ethanol is more than .50 cheaper, it pays to burn, if not it does actually cost a little more. I do like the fact that this is an American made fuel made from products produced by our American farmers. One noticeable difference is that in the new 07 silverado's it seems that they have done something with the 5.3, I consistently get 14.5 with E85, whereas my father with his 04 gets around 13-13.5. Really dont know what the difference would be other than maybe a computer setting difference. Anything helps with gas prices staying at $3 for who knows how long. Go get yourself a nice Silverado that burns ethanol, they are AWESOME!! | |
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I contacted a friend of mine who's a professor of agronomy and is much better informed than I about the facts and figures regarding ethanol. His reply to my questions makes for interesting reading. Check it out on today's entry on my blog, the Alternate Route |
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