Ethanol Vehicle

Written by Administrator

Thursday, 12 April 2007

Considering an ethanol vehicle.

With the continuous growth in the use of ethanol as a fuel for cars and trucks, more people are getting interest in the idea, however, there are a few people resisting this new technology because

they believe they will have to buy a new car once the blended gasoline is in greater supply. However, there is a good chance that your current car sitting in your garage is already an potential ethanol vehicle able to run on this fuel.

All the major car manufacturers have backed the use of E-10 ethanol in cars that burn regular gasoline and there has been no evidence that its use causes any problems, damage or harm to the engine. An ethanol vehicle has shown no real significant decrease in mileage, power or performance in comparison to a car that run strictly on gasoline.

In actual fact, ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline, it can also help prevent deposits from building up on fuel injectors, this in turn helps to maintain the original gas mileage and avoid the loss of power often seen in cars with high mileage. Gasoline refiners have changed their formulas over the years so basically any vehicle that burns regular gasoline today, can be considered an ethanol vehicle once an ethanol blend has been put in its fuel tank.

In fact there are actually two types of alcohol based fuels and these are ethanol which is made from corn or other grains, and methanol, a liquid fuel which is usually produced from natural gas but sometimes from coal.

Modifications needed before running on ethanol:

E-10 ethanol, a mixture of 10 percent ethanol and gasoline, has little or no impact on the efficiency of a gasoline engine. However, for those wanting to operate their own still and run their car on straight alcohol, a few modifications will be needed. Things like input jets, main jet and air fuel mixture to turn it into a pure ethanol vehicle. Just do not drink the fuel what ever you do.

There are several classes of race cars that burn pure alcohol and because of it being highly combustible it is not recommended for use in the family car with out expert advice and direction. You can easily spot a pure ethanol vehicle, or more accurately smell one, as the burning alcohol has a distinct odor.

It has been said that diesel engines can run on just about any burn able liquid but after a while usually something in the system gets gummed up. Be warned that running an unmodified diesel as an ethanol vehicle will harm the engine as ethanol burns significantly hotter than diesel, or corn oil, and can cause harm to the inner workings of the engine.

Modifications can be made without a great deal of difficulty and there are also conversion kits available on the market, but currently many buses and trucks are using E-85, which is a 85% blend of bio ethanol, mixed with 15% traditional petrol.

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