Do you know anything about bioethanol?
Bioethanol is a biofuel that can be used in certain petrol cars, and is essentially made up of two components:
- Unleaded: 15%, although the proportion is generally higher in winter to facilitate cold starts;
- Ethanol, 85% of which is derived from the fermentation of sugar beet and sugar cane.
It is generally accepted that cars produced from 2000 onwards are compatible. However, this essentially depends on the engine, with some tolerating ethanol better than others. It should be stressed that bioethanol is drier and more porous than petrol, with a higher octane number. Admittedly, a few manufacturers have taken the plunge and offered engines directly optimised to run on E85, such as Ford and its Flexfuel models, but this approach has remained in the minority. What’s more, although the network has grown, E85 is not available everywhere, with only around a third of filling stations in France regularly supplying this fuel.
First of all, remember that only petrol cars put into circulation after 2000, unless contraindicated, can be converted to bioethanol. This conversion is actually an adaptation, which will enable you to run on E85 as well as unleaded 95, SP95-E10 or SP98. To do this, you need to update the engine control unit (ECU) to adapt the fuel injection. There are two ways of doing this… but only the first is legal!
In fact, the bioethanol box is the only approved solution, although it is preferable to wait until the end of the manufacturer’s warranty before carrying out this operation. What’s more, this box must be installed by an approved professional, who will issue you with a certificate so that you can obtain a new vehicle registration document showing that you are using E85. As for the price, depending on your car model, the box and the installation labour, you should expect to pay around €1,000 on average.
At the same time, reprogramming involves writing information directly onto your car’s map. It’s an operation that takes time and a great deal of trial and error to achieve the best possible optimisation. However, some unscrupulous professionals adapt generic maps that are potentially dangerous for the engine. What’s more, while E85 reprogramming is remarkably effective, it is not approved – because it alters the vehicle’s performance upwards – and is therefore illegal on open roads.
What you need to know to weigh up the pros and cons
Bioethanol generally allows you to make savings over the long term, i.e. once the cost of installing the box has been amortised – provided, that is, that you drive more than 20,000 km a year. In fact, although the price of E85 has risen sharply in recent months, the difference with SP95 petrol remains significant. So, of course, converting to bioethanol leads to extra consumption of around 15% on average, but with a difference of almost 80 centimes at the pump in favour of E85, it’s certain that filling up the tank is always cheaper! What’s more, unlike an LPG car, for which roadworthiness tests are more expensive, there are no additional costs to detract from the financial benefits of bioethanol, and in many départements, obtaining a new vehicle registration document is free – up to a certain level of tax power for the vehicle in question, of course; don’t think you can convert a Porsche Cayenne Turbo and not pay for its registration…
What’s more, E85 is eco-responsible … or, to be more precise, it is less of a problem for global warming than petrol or diesel. In fact, since it is produced from plants, it reduces fine particle emissions by 90% compared with petrol, and greenhouse gases by around 70%. That’s why a vehicle with a fuel box gets a Crit’Air 1 sticker. However, there’s a major downside to this flattering picture. Bioethanol only makes sense if it is not widely used, which is paradoxical, let’s face it! In fact, to run France’s fleet of cars on E85, we would have to use all the fields available… and therefore stop feeding ourselves, which obviously poses a problem!
Another point to watch out for is that the modification may invalidate the vehicle’s warranty, and although there is still some debate on the subject, such a conversion can actually damage the engine in the medium to long term. In fact, alcohol is capable of stripping the fuel tank and saturating fuel filters more quickly, while its greater ‘sensitivity’ to water generates corrosion – particularly if you leave the vehicle for some time without driving with a full tank. Cold-weather starts are also more complicated, with a few misfires very often – it’s not the end of the world, but it’s more painful than with ‘good old’ conventional fuel. In this respect, please note that our EFI Automotive Service products have not been developed to meet the additional constraints that E85 places on an engine originally designed to run on unleaded. As a result, we accept no responsibility for any failure of a vehicle that has been converted to run on bioethanol.
Sources: www.lindependant.fr, www.biomotors.fr, www.caroom.fr, www.tf1info.fr, www.media.roole.fr, www.rmc.bfmtv.com
