The Great Ethanol Hunt Begins

The latest buzz in alternative fuels to hit the mainstream is Ethanol. This magical blend of corn and gasoline called E85 is either the answer to America's dependence on foreign fuel or one big scam by farmers, depending on the blogs you read.

Each American car company has claimed that they are the leader in Flex Fuel vehicles either by way of press releases or major media campaigns like GM's "Live Green, Go Yellow." Most people probably couldn't care less about these claims or who builds the most FFVs. They just want to know how easy it is to use E85 on a daily basis.

To cut through the hype I had a new Flex Fuel Chevy Tahoe dropped off at my home office in Chicago for a week of testing. Besides being one of the largest cities in the country, Chicago also happens to be smack dab in the middle of the so-called "Ethanol Corridor." Yes, there is a lot of Ethanol jargon for us to learn over the next week.

Unfortunately, the Tahoe is filled with regular gas so I'll be destroying the environment for about 300 miles in order to refill with E85. Horrible isn't it? But it's for the good of the planet in the long run.

Here is a Google Earth view of most of the surrounding E85 stations according to www.e85fuel.com. Note that only two are actually in the City of Chicago. So I'll be checking out the wilds of the suburbs to see the commutability, price and mileage provided by E85 in the real world. The hunt is on.



Dave
Posted - March 28, 2006
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