Not all gasoline. In my area in N.E. NC (lots of water and boats) there are lots of places I can buy non-ethanol gas (NE). My old boat and lawn mower get NE. My newer car and 2006 Harley get E10 because they were designed for it and gas doesn’t sit in them very long. I have a vintage 1975 Suzuki GT750 that was not designed for ethanol so it get NE.
President George W. Bush signs the Energy Policy Act of 2005, requiring oil companies to add ethanol to their gasoline. Called the Renewable Fuels Standard, this mandate begins with a 4-billion-gallon (15.14-billion liter) requirement in 2006 and doubles by 2012.Nov 12, 2013
States have the option of providing non-oxy fuel for older vehicles/equipment.
But the regular motor fuel in all states must contain at least 10% ethanol.
Tester
I have never been asked what vehicles I’m using non-ethanol in. I can buy as much of it as I want. Now, the one control I see is it is always more expensive than E10. That reduces it’s use I guess.
Yeah.
Like non-oxy gas is cheap.
I just filled my 5 gallon gas can with non-oxy gas. Just under $27.00. Almost twice as much as regular E10 gas.
Now go fill a Silverado with non-oxy gas.
Tester
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Up to 10%, not at least 10%. The mandate is how many millions of gallons must be used in the fuel supply. 7 states specify the legal amount to be 10%.
My Audi has a sensor that determines percent of ethanol because it is a flex fuel car. Everytime I check, the ethanol is 9% from pumps near me. I have run a tank of E85 and it showed about 70% but it still had some E10 in the tank when I filled it. I have read that E85 is generally 75 to 79% ethanol when available.
I wouldn’t buy BP gas because it’s not Top Tier, odd, most all major and many smaller brands are these days.
Co ops are farm cooperatives like cenex.
I was surprised to see this. They used to be, did they change their formula or just want to save money to not pay TT fees? Around me they used to be ten cents per gallon more than speedway top tier gas, now they are the same price.
+1
It wasn’t very long ago that BP was a Top Tier certified brand.
For the longest time, the only non Top Tier “major” brand in my area was Gulf, but now there are two brands that I will avoid–unless there are no other options.
The BP web site claims that “All grades of bp/Amoco gasoline with Invigorate® exceed TOP TIER™ detergent requirements and provide enhanced benefits to our consumers, such as cleaning your engine,3 that TOP TIER™ fuels do not.” But they aren’t Top Tier certified any more. Make of it what you will.
Before Costco’s gas got Top Tier certification, the signage on their pumps said more or less the same thing. I think that the licensing fee is likely to be a deterrent to some companies applying for that certification.
These are very large, profitable companies. It seems like the Top Tier fees could be absorbed as part of the advertising budget. How large are the fees that a company like BP would decide to bypass them?
You have to wonder how much the fees are when the single-location Belmont Car Wash in Belmont, MA is Top Tier certified. I understand the fees are by location so they can add up quickly for multi-location vendors. Presumably, most fuel vendors have realized it’s unnecessary to get certified.
I use the Pure Gas app to find E0 (Ethanol free gas) and it is getting harder and harder to find in my neck of the woods…
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You’re a bit late to the party. Ethanol became common around 2005 when the federal government subsidized it. At this time E85 gasoline was a lot cheaper and you could save money by using it. Gasoline mixed with up to 10% ethanol became a nation wide thing around this time. It was a problem for carburetors from the 80s and older that have seals which can’t handle alcohol. Some states required it, and some still do, for on road fuels. You have to get pure gasoline at a marina in California.
The only stations that I’m aware of that doesn’t have ethanol added to their fuels is the Pure stations… others wise nearly every station we’ve ever been to has this sticker on the pumps. The real challenge is making sure the tanker has filled the correct tanks with the correct fuel.
Normally the Ethanol free gas pumps are always off to the side somewhere, sometimes hard to see, like Kerosene pumps… at least around here anyway…
EDIT: In your normal E10 stations (Mapco, BP, Exxon etc) the Ethanol free is off to the side…
Ethanol in gas has been around since the 70’s.
Ethanol fuel in the United States - Wikipedia
For a while MTBE was used…but that is extremely nasty stuff. You’ll find MTBE in ground water all over the country even though it hasn’t been used in over a decade. 10% ethanol and MTBE are oxygenates. They are used to help with tailpipe emissions.
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+1
In my town, a leaking tank at an old gas station contaminated the underground aquifer with MTBE in such a way that people who lived a couple of miles away wound up with that stuff in their well water. That situation caused the municipality to extend the water mains to a rural area that had never before been served with “city water”.
Until the water main work was completed, the municipality gave the home owners with contaminated wells free bottled water in order to reduce the danger to them.
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Same thing happened several towns in here. But the cheaper solution was to install radon bubbler in all the effected homes. Almost halve the NH population is on well water - myself included.