Do You have an Ethanol Capable car?

[MolGenBuckeye]

say goodbye to the backyard mechanic. those of you who know enough to work on a hybrid... please raise your hand. i get the strong feeling that electricuting yourself with a hybrid isn't all that compairable to doing something on your car at home. cross the wrong wires here and instead of picking yourself up off the floor wondering how the hell you got there, your wife is being consoled over your untimely demise. oh and uh... with all the "certified hybrid mechanics" out there.. im sure repair work is uber cheap!

say goodbye to the horse. those of you who know enough to work on an iron monstrosity... please raise your hand. i get the strong feeling that working with combustion isn't all that comparable to reshoeing your horse at home. one little spark and instead of picking yourself up off the floor wiping the hoof-mark off your tunic, your wife is being consoled over your untimely demise. oh and uh... with all the "certified automobile mechanics" out there.. im sure repair work is uber cheap! :p

I kid, but these things certainly change once the technology becomes "mainstream".

 

[Guy Incognito]

wasnt an alcohol fueled car a Simpsons joke?

 

[NorthShoreBuck]

I still work on my vehicle.
I will be tearing into the rear end tonight, you can have all the fun you want with that one.

I agree with Martin on so many levels. As I inferred and AKAK clarified hybrids that use electricity and big batteries bring a new set of troubles. The cost benefit ratio is not positive, as of yet. I really do like the ethanol solution. I failed to point out the escalating cost of food as AKAK did.

As I mentioned I will not hesitate to tear into anything mechanical and I do most of my own home repairs. I will not touch anything with electricity in it. It goes back to welding class when I got shocked by a 220 TIG welding machine. And yes you can have fun with that one also.:)

Prof had mentioned some of these issues in a long ago discussion on oil and conservation. It would be good for the US in so many ways, environment, R&D, jobs and security to name a few.

I will also point out one of my favorite less considered points. If you think the Arabs/Muslims hate us now just wait until we no longer need their oil. While it is not shared equally, they need our money more than anything else.

 

[scott91575]

As a guy in the auto industry here are a few things..

First of all, many of you have FFV's and don't even know it. The government mandates that auto manufacturers build a certain amount of FFV's. I think at one time all the Ford Taurus' were FFV's (or something like 80%). Ford even advertised it and nobody gave a crap. If you don't know, check your gas cap or owmer's manual. Those will tell you.

Ethanol as a whole is a worse fuel than gasoline. You have 2 choices, worse fuel economy or lower horsepower. If you run 85% Ethanol on most FFV's you will lose horsepower depending on the calibration. If the calibration is made for Ethanol more fuel is used. One nice thing about Ethanol is it runs cooler than regular gas, but in the end you use more for the same HP.

Finally, here is the ultimate info. If all of the available agricultural surplus were converted to ethanol, alcohol would supply less than 5% of our motor fuel needs.

FFV's have been around for a very long time, but the supply of the fuel and the consumer demand is just not there. Although if we become totally desperate it is one of many alternatives.