An ancient slogan said that in France, in the absence of oil, we had ideas. And that of producing E85, a biofuel from agriculture, is not the worst.
Imagine an engine that significantly reduces CO emissions2, reduce your fuel budget and most often avoid the ecological penalty. A technological solution which, as a bonus, does not raise any refueling or recharging problem. Fiction? No, it’s more about the flexfuel engine. Behind this somewhat barbaric term, hides a mechanism indifferently capable of fueling unleaded and its promised more virtuous alternative: E85.
Otherwise known as superethanol, this fuel consists of 60 to 85% of an alcohol obtained from the fermentation of sugars and starch contained in sugar beets and certain cereals. It should be noted that so-called traditional super-fuels also contain ethanol most of the time, but to a lesser extent; up to 10% for SP95 (E10), 5% for SP 98 (E5).
However, new cars immediately equipped with such mechanics, classified Crit’Air 1, benefit from tax advantages that will make you think twice before you fall for a battery-powered vehicle.
Their gray card is indeed free in all metropolitan regions, with the exception of Brittany and Center-Val de Loire where it is billed at half price. Models that emit less than 250 g / km of CO2 are also subject to a 40% reduction in their emissions, rare being those to suffer from any ecological penalty at the end of the day.
The question then arises as to whether all this is well deserved, our authorities sometimes having a tendency to favor the development of certain modes of propulsion almost blindly. We will not come back here to the four decades of massive diesel fueling that affected our country from the end of the 1970s and led it to a small ecological and health catastrophe.
But the virtues of E85 seem to be true. First of all because according to most analyzes, including that of the organization ePure in 2020, which certainly defends the interests of the sector in Europe, the greenhouse gases emitted during combustion are 75% of those that have been captured by the plants at the origin of the production. Even considering that its use generates an excess consumption of around 25% compared to unleaded, because of a lower energy density, the carbon footprint of bioethanol remains advantageous.
Measurements in real traffic conditions, carried out by the University of Applied Sciences Bern in 2017, also show up to a 90% reduction in emissions of fine particles in the exhaust.
Even if these figures should be handled with caution because of a still relatively small number of studies on the subject, the French production sector is relatively healthy. This is not the case everywhere, especially in some Latin American countries.
In our regions, E85 can hardly be accused of coming from afar or of accelerating deforestation. For the moment, only 1% of the useful agricultural surface of the Hexagon is devoted to it. However, the superethanol distributed on our territory, very widely elsewhere, through more than 2,500 stations (approximately 1 in 5), is produced almost exclusively (almost 100%) from raw materials of French origin.
Photo: Fabrice Bolusset
There remains one argument that definitely hits the mark with consumers: the cost at the pump. Faced with a unleaded 95 E10 whose average price is € 1.56 per liter, the E85 is only € 0.67. Yes, you read that right. Even diesel, at € 1.44 per liter, cannot compete.
Among the few shadows on the board, after the first initiatives of certain manufacturers (Audi, Volvo, Renault, Saab, Volkswagen, etc.) taken at the dawn of the 2010s, the number of brands to (re) try the experience is still very high. weak. Only the Jaguar-Land Rover group and Ford are now on the offensive, the brand with the blue oval going so far as to decline its hybrid Kuga in a Flexifuel version for a double blow.
Fortunately, it is possible to convert any petrol vehicle to E85, as long as it meets at least the Euro 3 anti-pollution standard (implemented on January 1, 2000 for any new model then on January 1, 2001 for any car sold new).
Clearly less restrictive than an adaptation to LPG since it does not require an additional tank in particular, it consists essentially of the purchase of an electronic box approved by the State, to be installed by an approved professional. The average cost of the operation is € 1,000, installation included. It is therefore good to know that the engine and its pollution control systems come under the manufacturer’s warranty of the box, the manufacturer’s warranty remaining valid for the other components.
This flattering portrait should not, however, make us lose sight of the fact that the relevance of each powertrain technology often depends on its use and that none of them should replace all the others. But the flexfuel engine at least has the merit of rehabilitating beets to the general public.
More techno on auto-moto.com:
Techno: the auto gearbox, the friend of the consumer?
Techno: why the Peugeot 9X8 was born without a spoiler
An ancient slogan said that in France, in the absence of oil, we had ideas. And that of producing E85, a biofuel from agriculture, is not the worst.
Imagine an engine that significantly reduces CO emissions2, reduce your fuel budget and most often avoid the ecological penalty. A technological solution which, as a bonus, does not raise any refueling or recharging problem. Fiction? No, it’s more about the flexfuel engine. Behind this somewhat barbaric term, hides a mechanism indifferently capable of fueling unleaded and its promised more virtuous alternative: E85.
Otherwise known as superethanol, this fuel consists of 60 to 85% of an alcohol obtained from the fermentation of sugars and starch contained in sugar beets and certain cereals. It should be noted that so-called traditional super-fuels also contain ethanol most of the time, but to a lesser extent; up to 10% for SP95 (E10), 5% for SP 98 (E5).
However, new cars immediately equipped with such mechanics, classified Crit’Air 1, benefit from tax advantages that will make you think twice before you fall for a battery-powered vehicle.
Their gray card is indeed free in all metropolitan regions, with the exception of Brittany and Center-Val de Loire where it is billed at half price. Models that emit less than 250 g / km of CO2 are also subject to a 40% reduction in their emissions, rare being those to suffer from any ecological penalty at the end of the day.
The question then arises as to whether all this is well deserved, our authorities sometimes having a tendency to favor the development of certain modes of propulsion almost blindly. We will not come back here to the four decades of massive diesel fueling that affected our country from the end of the 1970s and led it to a small ecological and health catastrophe.
But the virtues of E85 seem to be true. First of all because according to most analyzes, including that of the organization ePure in 2020, which certainly defends the interests of the sector in Europe, the greenhouse gases emitted during combustion are 75% of those that have been captured by the plants at the origin of the production. Even considering that its use generates an excess consumption of around 25% compared to unleaded, because of a lower energy density, the carbon footprint of bioethanol remains advantageous.
Measurements in real traffic conditions, carried out by the University of Applied Sciences Bern in 2017, also show up to a 90% reduction in emissions of fine particles in the exhaust.
Even if these figures should be handled with caution because of a still relatively small number of studies on the subject, the French production sector is relatively healthy. This is not the case everywhere, especially in some Latin American countries.
In our regions, E85 can hardly be accused of coming from afar or of accelerating deforestation. For the moment, only 1% of the useful agricultural surface of the Hexagon is devoted to it. However, the superethanol distributed on our territory, very widely elsewhere, through more than 2,500 stations (approximately 1 in 5), is produced almost exclusively (almost 100%) from raw materials of French origin.
Photo: Fabrice Bolusset
There remains one argument that definitely hits the mark with consumers: the cost at the pump. Faced with a unleaded 95 E10 whose average price is € 1.56 per liter, the E85 is only € 0.67. Yes, you read that right. Even diesel, at € 1.44 per liter, cannot compete.
Among the few shadows on the board, after the first initiatives of certain manufacturers (Audi, Volvo, Renault, Saab, Volkswagen, etc.) taken at the dawn of the 2010s, the number of brands to (re) try the experience is still very high. weak. Only the Jaguar-Land Rover group and Ford are now on the offensive, the brand with the blue oval going so far as to decline its hybrid Kuga in a Flexifuel version for a double blow.
Fortunately, it is possible to convert any petrol vehicle to E85, as long as it meets at least the Euro 3 anti-pollution standard (implemented on January 1, 2000 for any new model then on January 1, 2001 for any car sold new).
Clearly less restrictive than an adaptation to LPG since it does not require an additional tank in particular, it consists essentially of the purchase of an electronic box approved by the State, to be installed by an approved professional. The average cost of the operation is € 1,000, installation included. It is therefore good to know that the engine and its pollution control systems come under the manufacturer’s warranty of the box, the manufacturer’s warranty remaining valid for the other components.
This flattering portrait should not, however, make us lose sight of the fact that the relevance of each powertrain technology often depends on its use and that none of them should replace all the others. But the flexfuel engine at least has the merit of rehabilitating beets to the general public.
More techno on auto-moto.com:
Techno: the auto gearbox, the friend of the consumer?
Techno: why the Peugeot 9X8 was born without a spoiler
