[HOGWILD]

will this be an affordable truck, can you buy E85 anywhere and by 2009 will there be more E85 stations selling this fuel? i was surprised when i read this on Toy website, select 5.7L Tundras will be available with E85!

 

[phanham]

E85 - the expensive gasoline alternative! Not only is it hard to find in most states (if available at all), but more expensive, and produces less energy (i.e. reduced mpg). Yes, it produces less hydocarbons than typical gasoline combustion, but produces others that are not currently being tested for or regulated, yet. Ethanol is not going to solve the energy crisis (although may help some farmer's financial crisis), and having a flex-fuel vehicle isn't earth-shattering. A true hybrid with powerful electric motors that will spool the motor up and conserve fuel while at a stop would be a bigger benefit to the truck (IMO).

 

[nferra2]

E85 is worthless. If it wasn't for goverment subsidies, it would cost even more per gallon. I think we are barking up the wrong tree (stalk) with the ethonal fuel. I think the best be for a clean fuel source will be Hydrogen. We can already make cars that run on Hydrogen, we just can produce it in mass quantities economically yet. As soon as someone in Private Industry (Because no gooberment can do it) finds an economical way to produce Hydrogen, we will solve a ton of our "oil" problems. There is current research going on right now to culture a zooplankton in ponds to produce Hydrogen on site at fueling stations, all goes well until the population crashs, and the fact that it currently takes more energy to keep the population alive than they create in hydrogen. If exxon through some money behind the research, I bet we would see a whole lot more hydrogen fueled cars.

 

[blackgts2002]

E85 is worthless. If it wasn't for goverment subsidies, it would cost even more per gallon. I think we are barking up the wrong tree (stalk) with the ethonal fuel. I think the best be for a clean fuel source will be Hydrogen. We can already make cars that run on Hydrogen, we just can produce it in mass quantities economically yet. As soon as someone in Private Industry (Because no gooberment can do it) finds an economical way to produce Hydrogen, we will solve a ton of our "oil" problems. There is current research going on right now to culture a zooplankton in ponds to produce Hydrogen on site at fueling stations, all goes well until the population crashs, and the fact that it currently takes more energy to keep the population alive than they create in hydrogen. If exxon through some money behind the research, I bet we would see a whole lot more hydrogen fueled cars.

you can split water and get hydrogen. I dont know why they dont just do that.. although you would have to consider the cost of the electricity needed to do so.

 

[TundraMaxxer]

you can split water and get hydrogen. I dont know why they dont just do that.. although you would have to consider the cost of the electricity needed to do so.

That would be nice. Just fill'er up with the old dihydrous oxide (H20).
I have spoken with folks who have seen test vehicles with the hydrogen fuel cells. They say the only thing that comes out of the tailpipe is a steady drip of water. Can you imagine that?

 

[Cruiser13]

E85 - the expensive gasoline alternative! Not only is it hard to find in most states (if available at all), but more expensive, and produces less energy (i.e. reduced mpg). Yes, it produces less hydocarbons than typical gasoline combustion, but produces others that are not currently being tested for or regulated, yet. Ethanol is not going to solve the energy crisis (although may help some farmer's financial crisis), and having a flex-fuel vehicle isn't earth-shattering. A true hybrid with powerful electric motors that will spool the motor up and conserve fuel while at a stop would be a bigger benefit to the truck (IMO).

Yeah, what he and Nfarra said!:tu: Ethanol is not competitve to traditional fuels until, perhaps, we can import cheap ethanol from South America. The corn lobby has blocked this, but sugar produces more energy from less crop making ethanol cost-competitive even when you take into consideration 35% (or more) less mpg. Even then, it is iffy.

The benefit of buying an E85 vehicle is that there is a possibility that Congress raises the required percent of ethanol in our gas. Right now it is 10% I think. They could conceivably raise that to 15% or more. Ethanol is corrosive to hoses and engine parts, so an E85 vehicle is designed to resist this corrosion. Most likely another 5% won't hurt anything until you get up to 100k miles or so anyway. E85 capable vehicles should not cost more either.

The problems with hydrogen technology is that there is NO "free" hydrogen in the world. You can't drill a hole in the ground or brew it. You must split water or natural gas- a VERY expensive process. Then is must be transported. Then the ENTIRE distribution infrastructure must be redone. Think new gas stations, everywhere. Then there is the pesky little problem that hydrogen explodes. It doesn't burn like gas, it explodes. I don't want to be in a wreck with h2 on board! If I had to bet, I'd bet that a "hydrogen economy" is a pipe dream in our lifetimes. That's my $0.02, thanks for listening.

 

[hndymn]

Here's a good video on biofuels. I talked to a Toyota factory rep. at a dealer sponsored test drive event today, and he seemed sure that the E85 Tundras would be available in late 07 on the 08s. He also said that Lexus will have a 400 HP hybrid soon. The Lexus and Tundra have shared engines in the past ...

 

[rosskoss]

To know why the Domestic Auto manufacturers are so crazy about E-85.

Flex Fuel’s Big Pay-off

With fewer than 600 stations selling E85 fuel in 37 states, why have GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler been cranking out these flex-fuel vehicles by the millions?

The answer is the mandatory Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Federal law requires that the cars an automaker offers for sale average 27.5 mpg; light trucks must achieve 22.2 mpg. Failure to do so can result in substantial fines. However, relief is available to manufacturers that build E85 vehicles to encourage their production.

The irony here is that although E85 in fact gets poorer fuel economy than gasoline, for CAFE purposes, the government counts only the 15-percent gasoline content of E85. Not counting the ethanol, which is the other 85 percent, produces a seven-fold increase in E85 mpg. The official CAFE number for an E85 vehicle results from averaging the gas and the inflated E85 fuel-economy stats.

Calculating backward from our test Tahoe’s window-sticker figures (which are lower than but derived from the unpublished CAFE numbers), we figure the E85 Tahoe’s CAFE rating jumped from 20.1 mpg to 33.3 mpg, blowing through the 22.2-mpg mandate and raising GM’s average. What’s that worth? Well, spread over the roughly 4.5-million vehicles GM sold in 2005, the maximum 0.9-mpg benefit allowed by the E85 loophole could have saved GM more than $200 million in fines. That’s not chump change, even for the auto giant.

If you're interested in the entire article, go here:

Tech Stuff: Ethanol Promises - Features - Car and Driver July 2006

 

[bennicde]

you can split water and get hydrogen. I dont know why they dont just do that.. although you would have to consider the cost of the electricity needed to do so.

they get the hydrogen from natural gas

 

[MotoMedic]

E85 = what politicians use to fool the average person into thinking they have a solution for high gas prices.

 

[saarenmaa]

I would much rather take a diesel Tundra. Not any heavy monster engine like Duramax, but something that fits a 1/2 ton.

Hard to understand why there still is not any 1/2 ton diesel pickup on the market.

 

[Apollo]

I'm with Motomedic ... It's more political than anything. The oil companies are so far up the politicians a$$es, you'll never get that to change. Honda has an Accord in Europe that get around 80 mpg, it's a diesel. I'm sure Yota has one too. Freekin politicians !

 

[slimjim2525]

I agree e-85 will not be a great thing as touted by our present politicians. I have a flex fuel chevy silverado but have not tried e-85 yet because it is not available in my area. But I want to clear up any false statements that are reported here. There are currently 1158 E-85 stations n the U.S.. Admittedly some of these are not open to the public. E-85 is not more than gasoline per gallon, in fact it is on average 50 cents cheaper per gallon than gasoline. You will get a drop in MPG because E-85 has less BTU's per volume than gasoline. The average if you believe the people reporting there MPG's is around 1-2 mpg. It is however growing in popularity. In 2005 there were 3.9 billion gallons sold, 5.7 billion in 2006, and a projected 8.1 billion gallons this year. I have adopted the attitude of I'll wait until it's available and try it and see what mpg i get. If it saves me money or is wash compared to gasoline then I will use it. President Bush's recent trip to central america was in part to get Brazil to export some of there ethanol to the U.S., there ethanol is made from sugar cane, and Brazil is currently completely independent of foreign oil.

 

[HOGWILD]

Surprised Toyota was not invited to White House for the E-85 Party!! Guess they could not find enough stations to get them from dealership to White House? Or was this a big 3 issue as far as a non invite?