The natural fuel no one talks about
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The late 1990s and 2000s were wild times for new technology, but one fuel has seemingly been left in the dark: E85.
Pulling up to the petrol station, you will see numerous options for a refill: E10, 91, 95, 98, diesel and premium diesel. But, there’s one option you may come across in your travels that you’ve never seen before, and that’s E85.
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If you’ve been around motorsports for the past 15 years or extensively modified cars, then you’ll know what the E85 is and how it works. However, the general public would have no idea what it is and if they can use it in their car.
So, what is E85, and why don’t we use it in all vehicles since it’s made primarily of organic materials?
What is E85?
Much like E10, which is found at most petrol stations around Australia, it is a mixture of ethanol and fuel. However, unlike E10, which is 10 per cent ethanol and 90 per cent petrol, it’s actually 85 per cent ethanol and just 15 per cent petrol.
Ethanol is a biofuel made by fermenting grains and sugars from products such as corn, food waste, and sugar cane. The fermented sugars and grains are then distilled and blended with petrol.
Also, unlike E10, which is 94 octane, E85 is often over 100 octane ranging between 100 and 105.
Can you get E85 in Australia?
Yes, E85 is available at a limited number of petrol stations in Australia. The first bowser was installed in 2008 at United Petroleum in Virginia, near Brisbane, Queensland.
This was due to a push from SAAB Australia, which imported the first ‘flex-fuel’ cars in 2007. The 9-5 BioPower could run on a choice between normal petrol and E85, changing the fuel map and ignition time by running a sensor that can measure the ethanol content of a vehicle.
Biofuel didn’t start becoming more popular until 2010, when Holden announced that it would release a VE Commodore II with E85 flex-fuel capability in a joint venture with the Victorian Government, Caltex, Veolia, Coskata, and Mitsu.
Caltex began rolling out several petrol stations that stored E85 for the limited number of cars that use it.
However, as of 2024, only a limited number of petrol stations actually stock E85. There are no official numbers on how many stations are left, but around one in every 50 stations actually stocks the fuel.
Can I fill my car with E85?
Unfortunately, if you don’t own one of the few flex-fuel cars, or have modified yours to accept it, then you can’t put E85 in your vehicle.
Because ethanol is a much drier fuel than petrol, it will cause thousands of dollars in damage with sustained use.
Starting with the fuel tank, if your tank is not compatible, it can cause rust if it is metal or actually begin to degrade if it is plastic. You will need an ethanol-capable fuel pump, otherwise, it can degrade the internals and stop pumping fuel through.
Then there are the fuel lines. While the majority of the fuel lines on modern cars are metal, a portion are still made of rubber. You will need E85-capable fuel lines or the high ethanol content will eat through the rubber and cause a fuel leak.
Finally, you will need E85-compatible fuel injectors. A portion of the construction of a fuel injector is plastic, which can deteriorate and block the flow.
The internal components of an engine are compatible with E85, but changes will need to be made to the ignition timing due to the fuel’s high octane, as well as changes to the fuel map due to E85’s higher volume required to run.
You can read more about how octane affects an engine here.
The positives of E85
E85 also produces around 35 to 40 per cent less emissions than petrol, and since it is sourced from natural materials it is also more ethical to source than mining for fossil fuels. However, there is a debate about just how good for the environment producing ethanol is.
Ethanol can also be made from recycled food waste, meaning that a crop doesn’t need to be harvested to create the fuel in small quantities.
Agriculture’s production of fuel can also boost the local farming economy. Crops such as corn and sugar cane are currently grown in warmer parts of the Australian east coast.
Somewhat only a positive for high-performance engines, but ethanol burns much cooler than conventional fuel, which is why it has such a common application across motorsports. By running a cooler fuel, it means things such as forced induction (turbo and superchargers), which typically cause the cylinders to run hotter, can run at a safe temperature and generate larger power figures.
More so for motorsport enthusiasts, but the useage of biofuels will likely see prolonged support from internal combustion engines in racing. Formula One has long used a 10 per cent ethanol mix, though there have been talks to up the percentage of ethanol used, while V8 Supercars used E85 from 2009 to 2022 before it made the switch to E75.
The downsides of E85
Apart from the aforementioned fact that many components will need to be changed on your car to ensure it is ethanol-safe, one of the major downsides to E85 in regular cars is that it runs cooler than conventional fuel. This translates into poor fuel economy and a lot of unburnt fuel if your engine cannot get hot enough to ignite it.
It also releases a lot less energy than petrol. To counteract this, you will end up setting the fuel map, controlled by your engine control unit, to release much more fuel into each cylinder.
The price of E85 is also typically around 10 to 20 cents more per litre than premium 98, so you not only spend more per fill, but also use around 15 to 25 per cent more fuel per tank.
The biofuel also has a short shelf life due to its separation of ethanol and petrol, and its ability to absorb moisture. While E85 in underground tanks found at petrol stations can have a shelf life of over a year, E85 in certain petrol tanks can go bad in as little as three months, leading your car to inject water directly into a cylinder.
The future of ethanol-based fuels
It’s unlikely that E85 will ever make a comeback, given its downsides and higher pump price, but it still has an important place in motorsport and performance cars due to its burn and cooling properties, which allow it to reliably and safely make more power.
Much like the problem with the E10, the E85 required far too much modification to existing vehicles to deem itself profitable for the masses.
It’s likely that we will move towards a synthetically based fuel that is made without crude oil like the one currently used in the British Touring Car Championship.
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