Talking flex-fuel vehicles could lead to political debates - Boston Herald
I assume these vehicles can use regular gasoline with 10 percent ethanol or E85 (85 percent ethanol). I’m going to focus on the economics for the vehicle owner and the engineering and technology that allows for the use of the different blends of ethanol and gasoline. First, recognize that E15 is supposed to be compatible with vehicles operating on regular and E10. Flex-fuel vehicles can operate on any of these ethanol-blended fuels. The nonpolitical comment I will make — and have made in this column since ethanol was introduced into motor fuels in the 1980s — is this: Internal combustion engines prefer 100 percent gasoline. Modern technology, engineering and materials make today’s engines capable of operating on ethanol-blended fuels with reasonable efficiency and success. Fuel tanks and fuel systems, valves and valve seats, pistons and piston rings and other components of flex-fuel vehicles, or FFVs, are designed to handle higher percentages of ethanol without issues. A fuel compensation sensor or discriminator identifies the gasoline/ethanol specific composition, allowing the powertrain control module to adjust fuel flow and timing to properly burn the fuel. Source: www.bostonherald.com
