Bio ethanol

[Zwerius]

Since in many countries nowadays a certain percentage of bio ethanol is added to gasoline, I assume that there will be no problems with rubber /gaskets etc. in the i3, like they sometimes occured in older cars.
In many European countries 5% bio ethanol is added, in some countries (like Germany) one can buy E10 (10% ethanol).
In Brasil much more ethanol is added (or almost pure ethanol is used).

Ï'd like to put a sticker on the back of the i3 (Rex) saying: "This care is driving on 100% solar energy"

For the electrical energy that would be true in my case. But not for the maybe 5% or 10% Rex kilometers I will drive if I have to do it using regular gasoline.

Therefore I'd like to use bio-ethanol as fuel for the Rex. In that case the sticker (and I) wouldn't be lying....

Technically I don't see any problems. The octane rating of bio ethanol is even better than from gasoline.

But up to now I didn't get a clear answer from the BMW-folks on wether this is possible or not.

What are your ideas?

Regards,
Zwerius
(from Holland)

 

[ecoangel]

Octane rating is higher but less mpg than regular petrol.

Also ethanol is not the most eco fuel if made from corn:

"Cornell agriculture professor David Pimentel argues that producing ethanol actually creates a net energy loss. His research shows that a gallon of ethanol contains 77,000 BTUs of energy for engines to burn but requires 131,000 BTUs to process into usable fuel, not including additional BTUs burned from fossil fuel sources to power the farm equipment to grow the corn, and the barges, trains and trucks used to transport it to refineries and ultimately fueling stations.

Pimentel also says that powering a car for a single year on ethanol would require 11 acres of corn, which could alternatively feed at least seven people. If we step up our use of ethanol and begin putting our farmers’ yields into gas tanks instead of on dinner tables, we could see a shortage of domestically grown food and higher prices at the grocery store. To address this problem, biofuels producers are researching alternative non-food feedstocks such as algae, corn stalks, wood chips and switchgrass, though they would still make use of arable land that could grow food for human consumption."

http://business-ethics.com/2010/06/05/is-ethanol-better-for-environment-than-gasoline/


I would prefer a bio-diesel REX made with renewable algae!

 

[Bunter]

Ï'd like to put a sticker on the back of the i3 (Rex) saying: "This care is driving on 100% solar energy"

You must either have quite a large solar array of your own or must be buying from a supplier who only supplies from a solar source? I have a 4kw array and am certain that I won't be able to supply the car from the array only especially in the winter and will have to buy grid power but there are no suppliers in the UK who offer solar power only juice.
I'd be interested to hear how you can be solar only for the electric part?
Bill