A sensor in the fuel system of a flex fuel vehicle
measures the relative proportions of the two possible fuels and
automatically adjusts the 'tuning' of the car's engine so that the
mixture, whatever it is, will burn cleanly. This sensor and
self-tuning capability are what makes flex fuel vehicles possible.
Flex fuel vehicles have been around for a number of years. The oil
crisis of the seventies spurred interest in and research on
alternative fuels, and one of the leading candidates has always been
ethanol, a plant-based alcohol that can be made from domestic farm
products. Until very recently, you could only purchase flex fuel
SUVs in the US, but car manufacturers are marketing flex fuel
vehicles in other classes, such as sedans and wagons, beginning in
2006.
Brazil leads the US - and the world - in the
adoption of ethanol as an alternate fuel source and consequently in
the production and use of flex fuel vehicles. Brazil's government
has poured millions into researching alternate fuels and transition
from gasoline dependence, and today produces ethanol from locally
grown sugar cane. Cars sold in Brazil must be able to take at least
a 25% ethanol to 75% gasoline mixture. Flex fuel cars are much more
prevalent in Brazil than in the US, and a wider variety of classes,
down to subcompacts, are sold as flex fuel vehicles in Brazil.
Today, over half the cars sold in Brazil are flex fuel vehicles, and
Brazil expects to be independent of imported oil for gasoline in
2006. Chevrolet has developed an E85 Flex Fuel car.
___________________________________
Is it possible to convert
a gasoline vehicle to operate on E85?
Yes. However, there are no conversions or after-market parts that
have been certified by the EPA as meeting the standards to maintain
clean exhaust emissions. Technically speaking, converting a car or
vehicle that was designed to operate on unleaded gasoline to operate
on another form of fuel is a violation of the federal law. If
caught, the person may be subject to significant penalties. No
after-market conversion company has successfully certified an E85
kit that would allow a gasoline vehicle to operate on 85 percent
ethanol.
