Rebates For Buying, Using An E85 Vehicle

E85 vehicles or flex fuel vehicles (FFV) are select cars, trucks, SUVs, crossovers and commercial vehicles which run on E85 fuel. E85 represents a blend of ethanol and regular gasoline, with 85% of the mixture consisting of ethanol and the remaining 15% gasoline. Ethanol is developed from a number of different products, including corn, but E85 can only be used in vehicles which have been factory developed to use this fuel. Your owner’s manual will indicate whether your car can run on E85 fuel.

Ethanol is usually derived from corn and, thanks to government incentives, can yield nice incentives for the buyers and drivers of flexible fuel vehicles (FFV).

Because E85 fuel produces fewer harmful emissions, some government agencies offer consumers rebates or tax credits when they purchase these types of vehicles to encourage the purchase of FFVs. Right now, Congress is considering legislation that would provide a rebate or tax credit for purchasers of E85 vehicles, similar to what is already extended to most hybrid and a handful of lean burning diesel vehicles. At the moment, no federal rebate is in place.

State Level Incentives

On the state level, E85 vehicle owners may be able to find a rebate by visiting their state’s Environmental Protection Agency website or similar agency. For example, in Illinois, the Illinois Alternate Fuels Rebate Program is one of the most comprehensive programs of its kind. The program encourages drivers to fill up with E85 at least fifty percent of the time in order to qualify for a rebate. Drivers must save their receipts and submit that information to the state at the end of the year along with required forms and paperwork in order to receive rebate for up to $450 annually. In addition, purchasing an FFV vehicle can result in a one time rebate for up to $4000 for Illinois residents only.

Go to the The Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center, a US Department of Energy site, to find what incentives are available for your state. A detailed map of the US with each state outlined is given, whereby you can click on your state to find which incentives are in place. Keep in mind that the Department of Energy list may not have the most up to date information, therefore go directly to your state’s official website, such as www.nj.gov, to review current information.

Fed Incentives Soon?

Lastly, bookmark www.irs.gov to keep pace with federal government programs related to FFVs. When new legislation is passed by Congress and signed by the president, that information will be posted to the IRS website, particularly if a federal tax credit is involved. Alternately, check the Department of Energy site for related updates.

See Also — Hybrid Incentives and Rebates – Region by Region

The Most Fuel Efficient Cars of 2009

Although gas prices have retreated considerably since peaking above $4 per gallon over the summer, consumers who are in the market for a new vehicle are still putting a high importance on choosing cars that deliver exceptional fuel economy. The retreat from big SUVs, pickup trucks, and other large vehicles has been historic with demand for certain smaller cars outstripping supply.

Each year the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes information about every vehicle sold in the US to include city, highway, and combined driving fuel economy. Up until recently, those figures were considered to be inflated, but over the past few years the EPA has taken great strides to make certain that fuel economy numbers parallel real world driving conditions. If the EPA says that a car can get 40 mpg, you should be able to realize that number under optimum driving conditions.

The Most Fuel Efficient Cars For 2009

For the 2009 model year, the EPA has released its Top Ten list of most fuel efficient cars. The list is evenly split between hybrids and gas or electric models, with top honors going to the Toyota Prius:

1. Toyota Prius (hybrid) — 48/45

2. Honda Civic Hybrid — 40/45

3. Nissan Altima Hybrid — 35/33

4. Ford Escape Hybrid FWD; Mazda Tribute Hybrid 2WD; Mercury Mariner Hybrid FWD — 34/31

5. Smart ForTwo convertible; Smart ForTwo coupe — 33/41

6. Toyota Camry Hybrid — 33/34

7. Volkswagen Jetta (manual, diesel); Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen (manual, diesel) — 30/41

8. Volkswagen Jetta (automatic, diesel); Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen (automatic, diesel) — 29/40

9. Toyota Yaris (manual) — 29/36

10. Toyota Yaris (automatic) – 29/35

The Worst of the Lot

Now that you know the most fuel efficient vehicles available, can you guess which model finished dead last? If you said the Lamborghini Murcielago with its 6.5L V12 engine, then you guessed correctly. The Italian sportscar gulps gas to the tune of delivering just 8 mpg city and 13 mpg highway finishing just ahead of the Bentley Arnage RL which gets 9 mpg city/15 mpg highway thanks to its 6.7L V12 powerplant.

To find the fuel economy of a vehicle that interests you and to make side by side comparisons with other cars, trucks, vans, crossovers, and SUVs, visit the EPA website to plug in that information.