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Can someone with more knowledge than me explain why something like e85 isn't more universally accepted? I love the idea, works in all makes and years of cars (it's a myth that it doesn't work in old cars, it works fine if you upgrade the rubber), burns cleaner (maybe?), is somewhat renewable, supports farmers. However it's like 20% less efficient. But it's awesome for turbo cars and race engines too.
In my view I'd rather go down that route instead of batteries, where we are all forced to scrap millions of perfectly good cars, for battery cars that are like a throwaway phone, unrepairable and expensive, and controlled by the mfg/gov to do whatever they want.
Sure public transport is maybe better but not for large area places. We are always going to need cars.
Ethanol burns like crap, produces the same or more emissions than gasoline, and generally is a terrible fuel.
The reason we started making E85 was because there was concerns about not having enough gasoline production in the states. Then we discovered fracking, and we started to "drill baby drill".
Electric or Plug In Hybrids are a much better option. You can produce the fuel entirely with solar, wind, nuclear, etc. if you put your mind to it, they're much more efficient, and even accounting for the battery production emissions, they surpass greenhouse gas emissions within a few years of ownership.
Electric batteries are expensive and hard to fix, yes. This needs to be worked on. However, the cost of ownership is much lower, so you aren't "bleeding out" costs over time like an ICE. It's just a big "wham" for a batt replacement.
Also, an electric battery doesn't typically just go completely dead all at once. It loses 10-30% of it's capacity after the first 8-10 years. That means if you had 200 miles of range, now you have 140-180 miles of range. Unless the battery has a fault or the electrical system completely fails, this is fine. Most people drive less than 50 miles round trip for a commute. Even at double that, you still have 1/3 of your batt left.
If you're a two car family, IMHO, one fully electric and one plug-in hybrid is the way to go.
If you're a one car family who takes lots of road trips, plug-in hybrid. If not, all electric.
Because burning ethanol is both dirty and hot. The only reason ethanol is an option is because of corn subsidies. It is hard on the engine and not good for the environment.
Also, battery cars are not unrepairable and are only expensive because manufacturers are focusing on the high-end market. Batteries don't just die at 10 years. They are just below 80% capacity, which is not that bad. Also, batteries in cars can be replaced. It is expensive, but not that much more expensive than buying a new gas engine and replacing it in a car.
E85 is inefficient to make in the US because the climate isn't right to grow sugarcane (except in Hawaii and maybe south Florida, I guess?). I hear it works pretty well in Brazil, though.
The biofuel that makes sense for US farmers to produce is biodiesel, but unfortunately relatively few vehicles are diesel.
IMO biodiesel is the solution we should be pursuing for things like aviation, rural car owners, and as an interim fuel for long-haul trucking (until it can be abolished in favor of going back to trains) that are relatively hard to electrify.
I would say it is mostly an awareness thing. Electric vehicles are thought of as the best for the environment and people aren't really aware or don't care that they can cut their Co2 related output by about ~50% with their existing ICE vehicle. People just don't know that they can choose to use a different fuel and have environmental benefits that way because no one from the car makers to the gas pumps really advertised or educated them on it.
A few car makers did have branded Flex fuel cars but really they were only branded that way to take advantage of a poorly crafted government tax credit. Many existing cars that can run e85 have no indication that they can run it and run cleaner with it which can lead to less maintenance issues and make the mechanic's job easier.
With that said ethanol is in some respects a worse fuel, since it attracts water which doesn't play nice with burning and as you mentioned is not as dense, but it is a much better fuel from an environmental perspective. Neither of those issues are deal breaker's since you can just fill up a little more often or add a fuel additive occasionally to dehydrate the fuel.
I also think maybe the politics of farm subsidies for corn and ethanol are also somewhat of an issue, since massive government subsidies for corn growing and ethanol production are unfairly distorting the market quite a bit. But then again that's par for the course compared with oil.
I have heard that most of the producers of ethanol have been bought out and taken over by oil companies, so I wouldn't expect them to make a serious effort to promote it's benefits or compete well since the oil companies wouldn't like that.