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Jul 17, 2008 - Survey Says...

The Green Car Advisor is reporting on the results of a J.D. Power survey.

While most automakers have shifted production to focus on smaller vehicles, nearly 70 percent of consumers want the companies to invest more in existing and emerging powertrain technologies, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Alternative Powertrain Study .

The study found that the percentage of consumers who are considering a gas-electric hybrid vehicle is up to 62 percent today versus 50 percent a year ago.

However, consideration for flex-fuel E85 capable vehicles -- those designed to run on gasoline or a blend of up to 85 percent ethanol -- has decreased 5 percent from 47 percent last year to 42 percent now.

I don't find that last result on flex-fuel very surprising given my own experience with ethanol. My 2007 Nissan Versa has consistently gotten me 32-33 mpg in my normal everyday driving and 34-35 mpg on the highway. I found myself far from home, with an almost empty tank in a stange land where the only gas available was E10. So I filled up.

My immediate reaction on the highway was that I didn't have as much power, but I dismissed that as my imagination and took a wait and see attitude. Over the course of the next two days I ran out that tank of E10 driving 99% highway miles and cruising speeds. I filled up with unleaded regular and did my mileage calculation... 30.8 mpg

Back to my local driving on the next tank, including most of the miles being driven by my youngest daughter who just got her permit and is learning to handle the clutch and 6-speed, and my mileage bounced right back up to 32 mpg on the next tank. and the tank after that was a fraction uner 33 mpg.

So I took a roughly 10% hit on my mileage using a fuel that cost $3.89 versus $3.99 per gallon.

My wife commutes 42 miles to work and some of the stations she normally fills up at near work have started selling "the blend" and we're getting similar results on her Altima. And there's no price difference at those stations.

Guess I'm going to have to plan where I'm buying fuel from now on because ethanol isn't going in my tank if it can be helped.

3:14 am | Categories: ethanol Permalink | Alert Administrator

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