What would a realistic mileage loss look like on E85 switching from premium? I finally just had an E85 station open up near my house priced at just over one dollar ($1.10 I think I saw the other day) cheaper than premium. I am trying to determine if it would be worth it to switch to flex fuel and run E85 whenever possible if it is worth the dough. I doubt I will ever actually get around to it but I am quite curious.

For example, say I get 20 MPG on premium at $4 and then 15 MPG on E-85 at $3. I would say that is probably not worth it unless it smells good in which case I would say maybe.
But if I got say 17 MPG on E-85 it would be somewhat worth it. Obviously it would take a while to get a good ROI though.

 

Since "E85" can vary from 51% to 83% so can the mpg. Also depends on driving style and tune. Range can swing as anywhere from 15% to almost 30%. But I'd say typically you see 20-25% loss.

 

This is for your 1999? 🤔

 

I can still get over 19 mpg on the freeway running E85 but my truck is much newer. Around town my mileage only change maybe 1-2 mpg. I got 12-14 in town on regular gas and around 11-12 on E85, so for me it doesn't make a difference.

Last time I got E85 it was $2.29 a gallon, probably around $2.50-2.60 now. Regular 87 is around $3.90 and premium is pushing $4.60+.

 

@strutaeng Yes it is for my 99.


Thanks guys that is kinda what I thought. This would make me want that sweet 1 MB PCM though lol

 

I only drive my truck maybe 2-3k miles a year now, so I always run E85. But even I did more miles, around here the few good stations that don't try and make a huge profit off the E85, it would still be cheaper for me to use it.

Some stations will charge 40-50 cents less than regular 87 octane because they want to make more profit. The smaller stations I get it from will charge what they should be charging and that's over $1 cheaper than 87 octane. All of that **** here is subsidized and yet the bigger stations will still charge more to make more money.

 

Wtf. It's $5 a gallon here. I'd run it in everything at $1.10...

 

What the hell is the point in selling the fuel at $5 a gallon, that's what gets me. Is 93 octane even $5 a gallon there?

It's over $2 cheaper for E85 than 93 here lol. Gotta love the corn states.

 

Can't you just swap a V6? 🤭

 

Supply and demand for these scabs. There's one station even remotely close to me...and they're running a monopoly. No 93, but the 91 is about a dollar cheaper.