Does anyone know if the FEH is rated to run E85 Fuels (85% Ethanol 15% gas)? I've read a few post in the other Hybrid vehicles and it seems the ethanol tends to be corrosive to certain engine parts and that GM has modified certain vehicles to have Flexfuel systems that can use the fuel. It just sounds like another cool way to go as long as you aren't destroying your engine in the process of course. Just wanted to know if Ford was following suit.

Tyson

 

Refer to http://www.e85fuel.com/index.php

Look up which vehicles can run on E85 fuel here: http://www.e85fuel.com/e85101/flexfuelvehicles.php

There is an ethanol version of the FEH but it is a *test* vehicle not a production model that is available for purchase/sale.

Flex Fuel vehicles have been around awhile but you need to check to be sure your make/model/year is compatible with it. I saw a FFV (Flex Fuel Vehicle) Ford Contour while in Austin, Texas, awhile back. It was at least 6 years old, and had an FFV badge coupled with Ford's "leaf and road" logo (see my avatar -- that logo).

 

Every FFV will have a yellow gascap, will be marked "gasoline or E85" and the manual will very explicitly talk about it.

No the FEH is not a FFV. The talk is 2008. There are issues in keeping the pollutant emissions low with FFVs, and good air pollution scores are expected with hybrids, and required for many of the tax benefits (see the 5-spd Insight and its lack of taxbreaks). The problem is the high oxygen content and lower combustion temps generate a LOT more NOx than regular fuel.

Its not a great reason, IMO, to not do FFV hybrids, but it is a reason.

FWIW, every engine can run in-warrantee on up to 10% ethanol. In real-life, almost all engines can run up to about 50% before the idiot light comes on. The code that it will read then is 'lean fuel trim' - too much oxygen and the computer cannot adjust any further. No short or mid-term damage, and probably little or no long-term damage, but that's up to one personal risk tolerance. I run between 30-50% in my non-FFV Explorer.

There are NO fuel system or seal issues anymore- all fuel systems are capable of running ethanol without getting corroded. It's down to getting the engine optimized and the computer to deal with the ethanol at high concentrations.

 

Ford has several Flex Fuel E85 vehicles. The Escape Hybrid is NOT one of them. Running E85 in it can damage the engine.

I've heard hints that the '08 will be Flex Fuel however.

Of course since there are only 4 filling stations in MI.... its not like I'd ever find it anyway...

 

This presents a paradox....

Hybrid usually = Higher MPG

E85 = Lower MPG

So an E85 Hybrid would be a low MPG Hybrid.


???????????? Would you pay extra for a vehicle that got fewer MPG?

But.... there are environmental and philisophical reasons to buy E85...
Does not come from OPEC!

 

As much fun as FFV are, no, as mentioned, the FEH isn't one of them, and you certainly shouldn't put E85 in your FEH.

The reason Ford, GM, and others have so many FFV's is because it allows for a loophole in their FE ratings, so for years there were vehicles on the road that few people actually knew were FFV already. With gas prices and alternatives becoming popular, the Big Two just promoted that they already had some out.

It is unlikely that we'll see a FFV FEH before 2010, there are a lot of problems yet to be solved, like getting more than 210 Miles to a tank on E85, emissions, power, and so forth. As much fun as it may be to say you're only using a tiny amount of gas, it may not be much in the long run just yet. Plus as mentioned, E85 isn't all that cheap yet, and there aren't many stations that both offer it and actually have it in quantity.

 

Plus as I have seen on vehicle posted on eBay, if your vehicle was a FFV, it would be tagged as one. Decals in the sides and a decal under the hood.

 

I heard E85 has a much higher octane rating than gasoline 87, a few stations here sell E10 and its octane rating is 90. How can engines take advantage of this if it ran exclusively on E85? I wonder how high the octane rating will be? I had a friend who put E10 in his TSX and he said his engine did not knock, since it required premium fuel (octane 91).

Any attest to the science?

 

Octane rating of E85 I think is up around 105.

Yes, engines made exclusively for this can have higher compression and more horsepower.

Indy cars will be using pure ethanol from now on. If they do fine with it, so should the public with properly tuned engines.