I e-mailed Steve Everly (the reporter) a couple of weeks ago after an article he wrote regarding the fact that adding alcohol effectively raises the octane of regular gasoline to what would be considered 'midgrade'. His story pointed out sellers continue to have three separate price points, although there was no difference in octane between 'regular' and 'midgrade. (I'll get back to this point re: smart fortwos in a bit...)
My email to Steve pointed out (to summarize) that the E10 blend(10% alcohol) fuel reduces the energy content of a gallon of fuel by about 3.4%. Missouri law now requires non-premium fuel to have 10% alcohol content. If you fueled you car in Kansas at a pump with 100% gasoline (which is available) and paid (for example) $.10 a gallon more than regular than in Missouri ... you were actually getting more for your money... more miles.
Steve contacted me and thanked me for the letter and said that he was now planning to address this point in a future story. Last week he called me and interviewed me.
I was pretty surprised Sunday morning to see my name on the front page!
http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/593644.html
(note: this link will die in a few days due to KC Star Policy)
Now here is my new smart question. As e10 'regular' is labeled at the pump with an octane number of less that it actually is... I am going to try a tank. I have a scangauge II so I can monitor whether the the ECU is retarding the timing to compensate.. or not. I just filled up Friday, so look for some results from this in a couple of weeks.
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