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CARS
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

New research shows E15 fuel causes more damage to cars

Jayne O'Donnell, USA TODAY
In Shelby, Iowa, gas-station customers have choices of three ethanol blends not found at many pumps throughout the country: E20, E30 and E85.
  • Gas with 15%25 ethanol could cause breakdowns%2C oil and auto industries say
  • Biofuel supporters say research is wrong %u2014 and biased
  • Fuel gauges%2C check-engine lights could get erratic%2C some say

Gasoline that has 15% ethanol causes more damage to vehicles than previously known, a coalition of oil companies and automakers said Tuesday.

Increasing ethanol content from the standard 10% blend to 15% can cause problems including fuel system component swelling, erratic fuel level indicators, faulty check-engine lights and failure of other parts that can lead to breakdowns, said Bob Greco, the American Petroleum Institute's downstream director.

Earlier testing by the industry group known as the Coordinating Research Council (CRC) found use of fuel known as E15 could damage valve and valve seat engine parts in some tested vehicles, which included a number of popular brands, and possibly affect millions of cars and trucks.

A statement Tuesday by the two trade groups representing automakers called the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to allow E15 for 2001 and later vehicles premature because the CRC hadn't completed its testing. But a coalition of biofuels supporters, Fuels America, said more than 6.5 million miles of testing had been done, which was "equivalent to 12 round trips to the moon (and) makes E15 the most tested fuel, ever."

EPA said in a statement that it hadn't reviewed the new report but said it determined E15 was acceptable for use in model year 2001 and newer cars and light pickups after analyzing test results from Department of Energy and other data. The agency also noted that it isn't requiring the use or sale of E15 or overriding automakers' requirements or recommendations for their vehicles.

Fuels America also disputed the new report, saying it displays "clear bias and ignores millions of miles and years of testing that went into EPA's approval of E15."

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) responded with their own press briefing Tuesday, accusing CRC of choosing components based on their sensitivity to ethanol and testing some vehicles that were investigated or recalled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration because of problems with fuel systems. But Kristy Moore, RFA's technical services vice president, says CRC didn't single out which vehicles it tested failed so it is impossible to tell if they had been recalled.

CRC says one model it tested was investigated for fuel gauge issues, but it was determined to be an industrywide problem with fuel elemental sulfur content, which was addressed with fuel specification changes.

Bob Reynolds, RFA's president for downstream alternatives, also criticized the CRC's use of so-called aggressive E15, which is more acidic and corrosive.

"I defy anyone to pull a fuel that has those properties," he said.

This aggressive E15 was used by CRC to eliminate cars from testing. Only If they didn't pass with the more acidic E15, were they tested again with regular E15. If they failed again, they were determined to have failed for safe use of E15, said Mike Leister, Marathon Petroleum's senior fuels policy director.

The CRC is in the middle of a court battle with the EPA over its decision to allow widespread use of E15. After losing an appeals court decision, the oil and auto industries are now strongly considering taking the case to the Supreme Court, Greco said.

Oil companies also want Congress to repeal the Renewable Fuels Standard, which requires refiners to use 36 million gallons of renewable fuels by 2022. Greco noted that decreased consumer demand for fuel put pressure on EPA to increase the concentration of ethanol in fuel to meet the law.

"This research adds to the growing catalog of studies that shows the effects of fuel blends containing 15% ethanol are unknown at best, and — at worst — damaging to systems that were designed to function on traditional fuel ...," said the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and Global Automakers in their statement.

But RFA says the industry group was needlessly alarming motorists, noting about 70% of vehicles on the road could safely use E15.

"The very last thing we ever want to create is a stranded-motorist situation," said Moore.

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