How do gas stations determine whether or not to carry E85?
 

There are no gas stations within a 10 minute drive of me that carry E85 and I'm in a decent size city (Austin). It seems like a bunch of you guys have access right down the street though. What criteria are gas stations using to determine whether or not to carry it? Will asking them to carry it help at all? Just curious about other people's experiences.

I'm truly surprised anywhere in Texas caries it at all? The vast majority of people want real unneutered pure gasoline.

Taxes have a lot to do with whether a station carries it.

My bet is many more stations carry boat fuel than E85 even though most performance car guys want pure 93 octane not the 89 sold as boat gas, unless the states tax or EPA structure favors it like California with its stupid expensive gas.

We have stupid expensive gas, but we also mostly don't have E85. There are a few stations that carry it, but it's actually harder to find than 100 octane race gas is.

AIUI, E85 is more common in the midwest, where they grow most of the corn used to make it.

--Ian

We have 5 e85 stations within 10 miles of my house. Sacramento, CA.

But then our "pump gas" is literally the worst in the country, so it kinda balances out.

Asking won't do anything. It's about availability and demand. And I'm not talking about a few enthusiasts that need it, I'm talking about hundreds of thousands of people/cars.

That's what I thought.... until I went to Nationals in Lincoln, Nebraska and there was no e85 around?!?! Good thing my co-driver brought some VP X98 along for the ride.

Yet here in corn free SoFla, we have about the same availability as 18psi in Sactown. Go figure?

So I would say, maybe only left leaning urban areas carry it?

All e85 stations plotted on a US map. I'm thoroughly confused about the distribution logic.

https://e85prices.com/e85map

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...fb6a3d7d65.png

Funny the station near me that is shown as having it, does not. Does carry 89 octane no alcohol boat gas though.

i've never heard 89 octane called boat gas. in atlanta it's real gas, typically costs about the same as premium.

This is inaccurate. Stations that have it are not marked, stations that don't are...

Also what is "boat gas". Is that some made up name?

Boat gas is e0 recreational gas. Kinda like when leaded gas was referred to as aviation fuel of av-gas. So, boat gas.

They just call it ethanol free around here and it almost always comes in 91. Sometimes you can find it in 93.

yeah that map aint accurate

Adding a product to a site costs $texas. New tank, lines, pumps, down time, etc. Adding e85 costs even more because it can't be run through the normal dispensers. Ones setup for e85 use stainless bits rather than aluminum/copper. Even the underground tanks have to be certified for e85.

A few sites converted their old kerosine/dsl pumps to e85 when gas was stupidly expensive, but it was uncommon at best. Now a few sites have taken their e85 out and gone back to dsl.


I work as a petroleum tech in the midwest...

Around Houston, there are several E85 stations. I know of 4 within 30 miles on my house, 2 of them within 10 miles.

Very scarce around here.

Sounds spot on.

Question: do you see it increasing in popularity in the "big picture"?
or like flex fuel cars a few years ago, it somehow didn't really blow up/become popular for many of the big players to start putting it into everything.

The only way e85 will ever become popular is if the corps start pushing the idea of it being 'green'

Most people still hate ethonal or don't know why there's 3 different buttons for gas.

GasBuddy app has E85 option to find stations around you. There are 3 stations within a 25-mile radius of my home. Closest one is about 8 miles (or 40 minutes) away.

I was never able to find out if this was the fiberglass tank melting or if things can grow in e85.

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It was the resins of the fiberglass being dissolved. When I worked at MerCruiser as a Tech Writer a decade ago, I was part of project where we updated all our user and dealer documentation to tell them to avoid gasoline blends with Ethanol.