The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) tried to do the right thing, buying more than 30,000 American-made flex fuel vehicles capable of running on ethanol. However, the vehicles, purchase from 1998 to 2003, ended up decreasing overall fuel efficiency by 29% and increasing gasoline consumption by 1.5 million gallons, according to a USPS study.
The plan went wrong in two ways. The vehicles had larger than necessary engines and distribution of E85, the 85% ethanol blend of fuel, is still largely restricted to the midwest.
As a result, vehicles outside the midwest were run on gasoline, and their engines, which were larger than predecessor Jeep engines, burned more fuel.
In addition, E85, though cleaner burning than gasoline, contains less energy. It takes 1.33 gallons of E85 to travel the same distance a a gallon of pure gasoline. Thus, fuel efficiency was reduced even farther.
The USPS said in the future, new flex-fuel vehicles will only be deployed where E85 is conveniently available and competitively priced. The study said the price of E85 must be 30% less than gasoline to be cost effective.
The program was most successful in Minnesota, where the number of stations selling E85 increased from 15 to more than 200 over the last 5 years.
The flex-fuel vehicles purchased included Long Life Vehicles (LLV), Dodge Caravans and Chevrolet Uplanders.
The study also details the results of smaller-scale experiments with fuel cell, hybrid, electric and compressed natural gas vehicles.
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