There’s been much angst and drama over E15 fuel, with people led to believe that E15 will ruin their cars’ engines. However, a new study shows that E15 has no measurable impact on vehicles dating back to 1994.
The study comes from Ricardo Engineering, which they presented at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit. while I will leave a detailed explanation as to “who” they are to Jo, they are one of the leading automotive engineering firms in the world. So this isn’t just anybody; Ricardo’s roots date back to the turn of the 20th century, and in between building badass race cars they are developing all sorts of engine efficiency solutions.
What Ricardo engineers found was that use of E15 in vehicles made between 1994 and 2010 offered no measurable difference in power, emissions, or engine life. Nor did E15 rot corrode fuel lines or o-rings within the fuel systems of vehicles made over 15 years ago. Over 87% of the cars on the road today were made between 1994 and 2010 (woohoo, I’m an outlier!) and that E15 is fine to use in these vehicles on a consistent basis. In fact, outside elements (snow, rain, misuse) are more likely to cause fuel system failure than using E15. That should shut up some of the E15 haters, though probably not.
I’ll just finish with the words of the study itself.
Conclusion
“The analysis concluded that the adoption and use of E15 would not adversely affect fuel system components in properly engineered vehicles, nor would it cause them to perform in a sub-optimal manner, when compared to the use of E10.”
Source: The Ricardo Company via AutoBlogGreen | Technical Assessment of E15 Use in 1994-2010 Model Year Vehicles
Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to Hemis. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout.