Coast to coast, drivers of flex fuel vehicles (FFVs) now can find more than 4,000 stations to fill up with 85% ethanol blended fuel (E85).

According to E85prices.com, operated by the Renewable Fuels Association, Minnesota offers the most E85 stations, but states outside the Corn Belt have shown the greatest growth in recent years, including California, Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

“Reaching this milestone is a tremendous achievement,” said RFA Vice President of Industry Relations Robert White. “Consumers with FFVs ought to have access to E85, whether they’re in Iowa, California or Florida. This expansion allows consumers with FFVs in many areas the opportunity to fuel with E85 for the first time.”

With more than 22 million FFVs now on the road nationwide, White says this shows how the country can accommodate higher Renewable Fuel Standard Renewable Volume Obligation requirements than what EPA has proposed. “If just half of the FFVs on the road today used E85, there would be more than 6 billion gallons of E85 demand, and you cannot ignore the growing demand from E15 and other blends,” he said.

White says the growth in E85 is due to a combination of factors, including RFA’s overall market development efforts, the past Blend Your Own Ethanol Campaign, USDA’s Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership (BIP) Program, and the ethanol industry-funded Prime the Pump initiative.