Flex Fuel, E85, Ethanol - Worth it??
I have to say that I am a bit let down by the hype of the Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFV) that run on E85 (a mixture of Ethanol and Unleaded fuel). I purchased a 2003 Ford Explorer FFV last August. I truly believe that was a mistake on my part. I knew that there was somewhat of a performance decrease with E85, but figured... hey... at least it's helping the environment. Right??
Well, maybe I wouldn't feel so bad if it were a vehicle that got better gas mileage, but with unleaded it gets 15mpg and with E85 it only gets 10mpg! I am wishing now that held out until I could afford a hybrid or some other new form of vehicle. The gas in this thing is killing me!
I also feel like E85 is quickly going to be a thing of the past. Something that never really caught on and something that was short lived. My feeling is that electric and possibly hydrogen vehicles are going to quickly make E85 forgettable.
Now with the economy and fuel prices the way they are, no one wants to buy a gas guzzeling SUV... even if it is a FFV. So I am stuck with it unless I want to take a huge loss by trading it in at a dealership. Ugh. I can't win!
|