How much ethanol % can our trucks handle?

How much ethanol % mix can our trucks handle if they are non-flex fuel? I thought I read where Biden was mandating 15% blend in all fuels.

We have a convenience store chain here called Maverick and they sell "blue gas" that is ethanol free. It costs the same as premium but it is definitely worth it for small engines and equipment. I occasionally fill my Tundra with it and I might run it full time now.

 

I thought it was 10% for non flex(regular 87 pump gas now), 15% for flex fuel.

 

I had just encountered this news on a motorcycle forum that I visit. Not a good situation, the nearest E0 fuel for me is over 70 miles away...

https://powersportsbusiness.com/top-stories/2022/04/27/ama-opposes-planned-e15-waiver/

 

I cannot find if he mandated it be mixed and sold or is just allowing it? I too thought our trucks could handle 10%. My issue is possible non-labeling or poor labeling at the pump to know exactly what we are putting in.

https://www.npr.org/2022/04/12/1092... day when inflation,intended to help ease gas

 

10% is common in a majority of the country and is said to be safe in our Toyotas. It looks that the E15 would be limited to some areas of the Midwestern US.

 

E15 gas


my gas cap in my 2019. Pretty sure the 2014 was the same.

neither were FFV (obviously).

 

Yup, my 2016 says no E20-E85 on the gas cap.

I've filled up with 88 Octane E15 a few times when I visit my parents house. It's always about 20c cheaper than 87 w/ 10% ethanol, so I figure what does an extra 5% really hurt. Mileage is always shit anyway, so it makes no noticeable difference.

 

Ethanol fuel clogs fuel filters so you end up using more fuel. It’s sounds like a good idea on paper but I won’t be adding it to my vehicles

 

That is not very accurate. Ethanol is a better solvent, so people might see clogged filters when they switch to E85 and it dissolves tons of junk in the gas tank. However, I think that is unlikely. I have lots of friends running E85 in their boosted race/street cars with zero issues, even after converting from 93 with higher miles on the fuel system. Have you ever opened up an engine after running E85? You could eat off the pistons.

However, I don't think OP is considering running E85 in his non-flex fuel truck. He'll be just fine with E15.

 

Minnesota has been mandated to run E10 in all gasoline since 2003 thanks to Big Ag. my '21 has the same fuel cap as @PermaFrostTRD, E15 will be fine in the Tundra.

I just can't see how they can mandate ethanol in non-FFV vehicles at E20 or higher, the Ethanol industry can barely handle unsubsidized production at it's current production volume since the growers are the same producers for our food supply. The last big push for ethanol production didn't end well with the ethanol market crashing due to high corn costs and ethanol plants closing or forced to be bailed out and bought by their local govt. The high cost of corn affected price increases in beef and other livestock that use corn for feed, as well as all food manufactured with HF corn syrup.

The FFV fad has passed and moved on and so too should Biden with his dinosaur policies. It doesn't make financial sense for auto manufacturers retool their gas engines to run E20 or higher standard when hybrid/electric tech has more promise long term.

 

MN has tons of E0 available, more than where I live in the Rockies....

 

I agree, and its because of all of the boats, snowmobiles, and ATV/UTVs here. They do have a fair amount of E0 available, but in some of the smaller towns in ag country its hard to find E0 fuel at the local coop. even harder luck finding non soy diesel which is almost impossible, even in offroad fuel.

 

Yes, ethanol is a solvent. Sure you can eat off a piston burning ethanol because the filter is doing its job. BUT The nuts and bolts is ethanol leaves behind salts and a jelly like substance when it is used as a fuel. That crap clogs fuel filters, fuel pumps, carburetors, and fuel injectors. Fuel filters don’t burn off the impurities so that’s why they get clogged.

 

I heard a while ago ago that if cheap ethanol production was really the goal, it would be distilled from sorghum or switchgrass. Less fertilizer needed, less weed killer needed, more bushels per acre. Of course farmers and the agricultural industry as a whole have to survive but not while making ethanol from an expensive food crop when there are cheaper ways to make it.

 

Water. E85 absorbs water which is what jelly's up and clogs everything. I'm not saying that cannot happen, but if these guys are daily driving their trucks, or at least not letting them sit for months on end, they should not have a problem.

For small engines, yes I wouldn't want to run ethanol if it can be avoided. I can't find ethanol free gas where I live, so I just treat my fuel good marine grade stabilizer, and rotate my stock fairly often by dumping it in one of my cars and getting fresh fuel.

 

I just filled with ethanol free this morning at $5.09 a gallon and $110 total. The hell with ethanol!

 

Maybe let's try to not get yet another thread locked because of politics. Biden sucks, Trump sucks, they all suck; maybe we can just try to stick to the use of ethanol in our trucks.

 

switchgrass was the big push here but they never found a real economical way to process it in large scale, only in the laboratory. brazil uses sugarcane for their ethanol production. I think the main push in the US (or at least in MN) to use corn were for corn farmers to have an alternative market to sell their corn and make more money when the market was low and corn was cheap. of course it backfired due to greed and both markets destabilized for awhile. It likely would've been a different story if corn wasn't used for food production...

 

The corn that goes to ethanol production is of such poor quality that they can't even feed it to livestock... Corn is a waste of time, it shouldn't be used as food nor fuel...

 

Wouldn't bet on 2014 being the same. Here's the cap on my 2013

 

The question is what changed. Something mechanical or just qualifications on paper.

Reminds me of the '05 2.7L Tacoma and its 5w-30 engine oil and straight 90W rear gear oil requirements. By '06 that had changed to 0w-20 engine oil and by '09 to 75w-85 rear gear oil. Mechanically identical drivetrains...

 

As far as I'm concerned, the question is moot. I've no intention of using E15 ever in anything.

 

Find your ethanol free stations here…..

https://www.pure-gas.org/

There is also an app

 

I only goto Shell Gas Stations in the Interior of British Columbia.They don't use ethonal.
It's funny though, you goto the Lower Mainland (Vancouver)and they have it in there.
For whatever reason they differ geographically..They use ethonal in specific markets.Lower Mainland in British Columbia,apparently in Southern Ontario they use it and all regular grades in the USA.
But in the Interior of British Columbia they do not.It is Ethonal Free.So that is why I goto Shell.

 

You’re probably right. It’s not like anything changed between the 2013 & 2014 model years.

 

Around here, Shell and Esso only have ethanol-free 91. I think Petro-Can puts ethanol in every grade.

 

Yeah...Stay away from Petro Canada..
Stay far, far away from those Stations..
You want to screw up an engine quick that is the place to go..No Joke..
You are are right about about both Shell and Esso..In most geographic locations they have Ethanol except in the Premium..
Funny though Interior of BC doesn't use it but Alberta does.I honestly would have thought
they wouldn't use it.Go figure.

 

This is an older pic but here are the choices at the local Maverick chain here in AZ

 

If I were to throw out a guess, I would say it's a similar thing to when they added the option to use 0W-20 engine oil when the earlier model years recommended only 5W-30. They merely hadn't tested it yet or some such...

 

The EPA tested E15 years ago and came up with if you have a vehicle 2001 and newer that it was safe to use. Manufacturers didn't agree and have gradually approved it for their vehicles on a rolling basis.

So pretty much if you want to give it a shot chances are it'll be just fine.