–chuck
(getting 50 MPG on that OTHER biofuel)

The only reason it is a reduced price per gallon is due to government subsidies. You pay for that in your taxes, so you do end up paying more. I am not against a subsidy, however, it should be used for a product that will actually produce some good, such as celluosic ethanol.

#2, The number of E85 stations has doubled in about 18 months from 700 stations to 1400. If it continues to double every 18 months, you get 20 thousand stations in 6 years.

Wow, now this is optimistic thinking. Continuous doubling of stations every 1.5 years? The exponential price is staggering as is the pace.

#3, E85 is here to stay. The federal government just endorsed 30 Billion gallons per year by 2012 or some such. It is federal law. My hope is that the use of corn becomes more efficient as the industry matures, and celluosic ethanol comes up big.

The government did mandate the 30 billion gallons, however they did not specify the source of this E85. In Europe and Brazil they are working on ways to make E58 sustainable and have a positive impact. Until the U.S. lets go of “Big corn” you will have merely replaced one problem for another.

No – even with corn at 2 bucks a gallon this industry could not be weaned from the taxpayer teat.

“ethanol has become competitive with the help of the blenders credit”

A bit of an oxymoron here – if it was competitive it would not need the credit. This is like saying I am competitive drag racing my ford contour with top fuel dragsters, with enough of a head start.

“E85 is here to stay. The federal government just endorsed 30 Billion gallons per year by 2012 or some such. It is federal law. My hope is that the use of corn becomes more efficient as the industry matures, ”

I hope not. The feds might endorse it, but centralized ecomonomic planning has a poor track record.

There is no free lunch, the feds can borrow more and more so that we can pretend E85 is cheap, but bill will come due (check out the mortage mess). The subsidies are more than the 51 cent blender credit, most states add 20-40 cents more, and pay for pumps, etc.

“and celluosic ethanol comes up big.”

BTW if cellulosic is so great why does it need even *more* subsidies?! They are talking about 25 to 50 cents more per gallon.

You haven’t seen anything yet.

Alex Rodriguez your comment about the government mandating all this ethanol. What happens if no one buys it, profit for the producers vanishes then they start going out of business. I bet they will UNmandate it. Laws change.

However, it would make more sensefor our nation to make the fuel from switchgrass than a food crop.

Again, how many of my fellow commentators would crap on ethanol if ToyHondissan were pushing it??????

Be honest now…….

#1, yes, you get reduced fuel mileage, but you also get reduced price per gallon. It is just about a wash. And if you are concerned about carbon emissions/global warming/Halliburton/(green topic du-joir) and want to fuel your vehicle with USA-Made E85, you are willing to pay a few cents more per gallon overall.

#2, The number of E85 stations has doubled in about 18 months from 700 stations to 1400. If it continues to double every 18 months, you get 20 thousand stations in 6 years.

#3, E85 is here to stay. The federal government just endorsed 30 Billion gallons per year by 2012 or some such. It is federal law. My hope is that the use of corn becomes more efficient as the industry matures, and celluosic ethanol comes up big.

I meant one each of an Audi R8, a $120,000 car with expectation of sales of a few hundred, versus a Camcordima beater with $150 million dollar marketing budget.

One of my in-laws (most are former GM-UAW Kool-Ade drinkers) was bragging to me about how much he was saving on a fill-up with E-85 in his new GMC.

I really think at least 90 percent of the drivers out there have virtually no idea what kind of mileage they’re getting and only a slightly better idea of what they’re spending on gas. The closest most people get is knowing how much it costs to fill the tank and how often they fill up. I also think that making people aware of their actual gas mileage will do an awful lot to change driving habits.

Thanks for my best laugh of the week so far!

As soon as my local WalMart HAS e85, I’m going to come on down for a fillerup. NOT!

At least the corn won’t have to be organic and they can use as much fertilizer and pesticide as they want on it to increase productivity. Lovely.

And of course the Des Moines skyline is going to look like Dubai!

Morons. It is criminal how stupid, short sighted and expedient it is.

He and a certain other president have the same approach. Keep saying something over and over again to make it true. Maybe it’s a presidential delusion thing.

Meanwhile I have just seen my first Malibu. Very nice. But I also just saw an R8. It got me thinking. One Malibu, one R8 – Rick’s marketing boys should be proud.

One of my in-laws (most are former GM-UAW Kool-Ade drinkers) was bragging to me about how much he was saving on a fill-up with E-85 in his new GMC. I challenged him to drive a couple of tanks with corn juice and then a couple with 87 octane, keep track of mileage and cost, and see who the winner is. I could build a nice BBQ with all bricks he sh*t when he found out he was losing money for every mile driven with E85. When he brought up the environmental good he is doing, I reminded him of the impact to his local fishing spots due to the ethanol plant down the road.

What are GM doing here with all these announcements? Betting that they get SOMETHING out of the long list right so they can look back on it and pat each other on the back, completely ignoring all the other stuff they got wrong? I don’t get it.

GM Board of Directors – Thanks for setting the bar for accountability lower than any other company I am aware of. May you continue to get your lunch eaten by your competitors. For as bad as RR is, you’re all much worse.

GM are wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!