Is ethanol the next big fuel to the automotive market? With most everone striving to make their cars more eco-friendly, ethanol does not remain a fuel without controversy, but the results of ethanol-powered vehicles seem to speak for themselves. Since the success of an ethanol-powered car at 2006 Shell Eco-marathon, earning a reported 6,786 mpg, even the big dogs are catching on.
At its core, ethanol is the alcohol derived from plant matter such as corn or sugar, or biomass- that is, biodegradable waste. What makes these fuels so desirable is that they are a readily renewable resource as well as an easy way to reduce C02 emissions. But as of yet few companies have taken the jump to cars that run on 100% ethanol. Instead the “flex-fuel” cars seem to be the popular ones. These automobiles can run on pure gasoline or E85 (a mix of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline), and every mix in between.
Ford, Chrysler and GM have all jumped on the flex-fuel bandwagon with models such as the Ford F150, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, and the Chevy Silverado. But in May of 2007 Toyoto took the leap by releasing two 100% ethanol-powered vehicles in Brazil, where the readily available amount of local sugar cane makes ethanol production an easy way to obtain local fuel.
The Carolla Flex and Carolla Fielder Flex appear to just be experiments at this point however, with Toyota having no plans to release the cars to other markets, but if the Carolla Flex catches on, perhaps ethanol will take a leap.
In fact in 2008 the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition released a list of ethanol ready vehicles from the Big Three as well as Nissan and Mercades-Benz. But again, no one seems to have taken the leap of Toyota, all these vehicles being operational on E85, not yet 100% pure ethanol.
In fact in 2008 the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition released a list of ethanol ready vehicles from the Big Three as well as Nissan and Mercades-Benz. But again, no one seems to have taken the leap of Toyota, all these vehicles being operational on E85, not yet 100% pure ethanol.
But Ford has also taken to opportunity to use ethanol-powered cars out of the US. In 2005 it released its first two “Flexi-Fuel” cars in Sweden, making them the then biggest manufacturer of ethanol-powered vehicles in Europe.
It seems for now ethanol-power is confined to the realm of the flex-fuel- able to operate on both sides of the fuel spectrum, but should the ethanol debate reach a meeting point we can certainly hope for more vehicles like Toyota’s models. Vehicles that can operate entirely on renewable, clean-burning ethanol.
I am an junior English major/ Philosophy minor at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. Currently I am spending the spring of 2009 studying at the University College Cork in Cork, Ireland.
