Ethanol Hunt Day 1

I'm still trying to run through the current tank of unleaded gas in the Tahoe before refilling with E85 and after about 20 miles of city driving it seems to be working, a bit too well. I also made it to the nearest possible E85 station to scope things out. The "Gas City" is located just a few blocks from Wrigley Field. While that may sound really cool to out-of-towners, it also means we're in one of the most congested areas on the North Side. Try getting near it on a game day buddy.

But today I got there around the lunchtime rush quite easily. A huge sign illustrated the reason for my trip: "DOES YOUR VEHICLE RU N ON E 85 SA VE 30¢ PER GL"

Since it was right underneath the even larger display of $2.45 for E85 and $2.75 for regular unleaded I immediately knew they weren't lying. Plus, "brand name" stations are charging about ten cents more per gallon of regular in the city. So what was it like at my first Ethanol pump? Interesting. There was plenty of propaganda plastered on the pump itself about saving the Earth (smiling faces), the economy (pictures of corn) yadda yadda.



There were also a few disclaimers about checking your owners manual to make sure you were driving a FFV. I'm sure a few people have made that mistake in their eagerness to save the Earth and the economy. But the lasting impact from this excursion was the station promoting the cost of E85, not the eco-friendliness.

The Tahoe we're driving holds 26 gallons of fuel. 26?! Really? Damn that's a lot of E85. That means 26 gallons of regular unleaded would cost $82.50. That's $20 more than a ticket to see Pearl Jam (I just bought my tickets for a few shows in May). The E85 would cost $73.50. That's still more than a concert ticket, but the $9 difference can buy a beer and a...well, a beer at a concert. We still need to compare real world mpg to figure out how close Ethanol comes to competing on a dollar to mile basis with regular fuel and after another day or two that shouldn't be a problem.



Cost difference between regular unleaded and E85 in the City of Chicago: 11.2%

Dave
Posted - March 30, 2006
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