AAA Begins Posting Daily Average Price of E-85 Fuel on Its Widely-Sourced Fuel Gauge Report Web Site

ORLANDO, Fla.--Highlighting the growing availability and interest in the use of E-85 fuel as an alternative to conventional gasoline, the nation’s largest organization for motorists has begun publishing the nationwide average price of the mostly-ethanol blend of fuel this week on its widely-quoted AAA Fuel Gauge Report Web site (www.aaafuelgaugereport.com).

Pricing information for E-85 is also available on AAA’s TripTik^® Travel Planner, an interactive mapping, routing and travel planning tool that is available free at AAA.com.

E-85 is the common name for a motor fuel made from a blend of approximately 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Conventional gasoline frequently contains as much as 10 percent ethanol, but much higher concentrations require special modifications to vehicle fuel systems and engines.

According to AAA, today’s nationwide average price of self-serve regular gasoline is $2.811 per gallon compared to $2.334 for a gallon of E-85.

“The addition of a national average E-85 price to AAA’s fuel price research Web site signals the arrival of ethanol as an increasingly competitive alternative to conventional gasoline in some areas of the nation,” said the association’s chief fuel-price commentator, Geoff Sundstrom.

There are approximately 4.5 million motor vehicles now on American roads capable of operating on E-85 or conventional gasoline through the use of flexible fuel technology, and more than 1,200 gasoline stations nationwide are now dispensing E-85 on a regular basis. Most of these stations are concentrated in the upper Midwest near the nation’s ethanol processing plants, but E-85 pumps are beginning to appear in other regions as well.

“The number of vehicles that can burn E-85 coupled with the number of stations that can dispense it means more motorists should be actively considering the purchase or lease of a vehicle capable of operating on a mostly-ethanol blend of fuel. It is AAA’s belief that given higher oil prices in the future, E-85 will become even more competitively-priced as the ethanol industry continues to develop in the United States and around the world,” he said.

To help motorists understand the cost differential between E-85 and conventional gasoline, AAA also is posting a nationwide, average “BTU-adjusted E-85 price” that accounts for the fact that E-85 delivers approximately 25 percent less energy content per gallon than gasoline. BTU stands for British Thermal Units; a method of quantifying the available energy in any given fuel source.

Today’s BTU-adjusted price of E-85 is $3.071 per gallon, or 26 cents more expensive per gallon to get mileage equivalent to that contained in a gallon of self-serve regular, AAA said.

“Simply comparing the retail cost of a gallon of E-85 to a gallon of gasoline does not convey the inherent loss in fuel economy – and increase in vehicle operating expense - that accompanies the use of E-85,” Sundstrom said. AAA’s “BTU-adjusted E-85 price is intended to compensate for this situation and provide an apples-to-apples price comparison that is more helpful to consumers.”

Pricing information for alternative fuels, Bio-Diesel and E-85, is also available on AAA’s TripTik^® Travel Planner. The AAA TripTik Travel Planner is an interactive mapping, routing and travel planning tool that is available free at AAA.com. Users can search for gas stations in their area or along their route by selecting the gas icon. Once stations are listed, users can scroll over locations and pricing information for all available fuels at a particular station will appear in a pop-up window.

AAA’s TripTik Travel Planner includes detailed maps, turn-by-turn directions, AAA proprietary content (such as scenic roads, congested areas, and construction information), AAA/CAA club locations, TourBook^® and CampBook^® guide information (including Diamond ratings for hotels and restaurants) and online hotel booking functionality. Users can map a single location or create complete point-to-point itineraries using specific addresses or populated drop-down lists that include airports, colleges and universities, major sports venues, hospitals, golf courses, ski resorts, cruise ports and national, state and provincial parks.

The data collection and calculations used to derive the prices of gasoline, E-85 and the “BTU-adjusted” price of E-85 is performed for AAA by Oil Price Information Service, the nation’s most comprehensive source of petroleum pricing information, as a public and member service. AAA’s national and club public affairs departments independently analyze and comment on fuel price patterns and trends based on its more than 30 years of ongoing fuel price consumer advocacy.

The AAA Fuel Gauge Report Web site lists average daily prices for the nation, all 50 states and more than 250 localities for all grades of gasoline, making the site the most current and comprehensive public source of fuel price information.

As North America’s largest motoring and leisure travel organization, AAA provides its more than 50 million members with travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services. Since its founding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully tax-paying AAA has been a leader and advocate for the safety and security of all travelers.