Stars of the Show

Cindy Zimmerman

New vehicles capable of running on up to 85 percent ethanol are the stars of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this year, according to the Detroit Free Press. For the first time, several automakers unveiled concept and production models capable of burning E85, the blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline backed by Detroit automakers as the …

Car Makers, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles, News

Looking at Bright E85 Future

Cindy Zimmerman

A recent pledge by the nation’s top automakers to produce more E85 vehicles is great news for the industry, according to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition. “The automobile manufacturers are behind this effort,” said NEVC Deputy Director Michelle Kautz. “Daimler-Chrysler, Ford, General Motors and Nissan all agreed that they’re going to have half their production flexible fuel by the year …

Audio, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles, News

Jumpstarting E85 in California

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. Department of Energy has provided a major grant to build 15 public E85 stations in California. According to a news release, the effort will include the collaboration of some major environmental and corporate partners, including CALSTART, General Motors, Pacific Ethanol, and CleanFUEL USA. Currently, there is currently only one public station that sells E85 ethanol in California, despite …

Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles, News

E85 Pump Hearings

Cindy Zimmerman

Underwriters Laboratories and the U.S. Department of Energy are holding two days of hearings this week at the testing group’s headquarters outside Chicago, inviting oil companies, automakers and researchers to help develop standards for E85 equipment. The National Ethanol Vehicle Association is “confident” that the meeting will address E85 pump safety concerns that first surfaced in an October 5 memo …

Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles, News

Flex Wars

Cindy Zimmerman

Geez, guys, can’t we all just get along? Flex-Tek and Full Flex, competing E85 conversion kits, are having a little war on Domestic Fuel. (see previous post comments) For the sake of transparency, readers should be aware that Full Flex asked their satisfied customers to comment on the post about the interview I did with them. Here’s the way I …

Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles

Full Flex Fuel Facts

Cindy Zimmerman

Got a call today from FullFlex USA, a company in Idaho that sells a conversion system to make most any car a flex-fuel vehicle. Seems they saw the post on Flex Tek we did a while back (see previous post) and thought I might be interested in doing an interview about their system – and I was. According to their …

Audio, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles

MTV’s VMAs and FFVs

Cindy Zimmerman

MTVs Video Music Awards this month (August 31) will feature ethanol and flex-fuel vehicles. According to a PR Newswire release from MTV: Chevrolet, a division of General Motors, and MTV’s “Break the Addiction” campaign are partnering around the 2006 Video Music Awards to help educate viewers on E85 ethanol technology in an effort to raise awareness about reducing greenhouse gas …

Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles

MN Gov Goes to Bat for E85 Conversion Kits

Cindy Zimmerman

Gov. Tim Pawlenty is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to approve the testing of E-85 conversion kits in Minnesota. According to an EarthToys press release, Pawlenty sent a letter this week to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to approve the FlexTek conversion kit (see previous post) which is already being used in Brazil. The EPA currently prohibits a company or individual …

Flex Fuel Vehicles, Government