Quote:
Originally posted by brookspw
Don't think that I am one of the gas price whiners. As a matter of fact, that really gets on my nerves. End of rant.
How many of you have one of the newer E85 / Flex fuel vehicles? I have a 2003 Chevy Tahoe with the biggest V8 and it is E85 equipped. For those that don't know, E85 is 85% Ethanol and 15% gasoline.
To be honest, I am told that the E85 produces slightly higher horsepower and gets slightly better mpg.
My question: Why is E85 roughly the same price per gallon as gasoline? I mean, hey, it is only 15% gasoline. I don't think that OPEC has the Nebraska corn market cornered, do they?
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Farm subsidies.
Additionally, in some states, they tax the gasoline portion at a higher rate than the ETOH so you get a back-end subsidy, too.
Dunno about HP, but it makes sense. Alcohols have lots of latent heat and pack well.
B