• New Cars
    • First Impressions
    • Road Tests
  • Classics
    • Classic Profiles
    • Classic Driving Impressions
    • Classics Information
    • Events and Days Out
  • Motoring For Fun
  • News & Views
  • Bookshelf
  • Technical
    • Grumpy Old Mechanic
    • Kim’s Tips
  • Features
    • Visits
    • Track Days
  • Contributors
    • About our contributors
    • Kim Henson
    • Chris Adamson
    • Kieron Fennelly
    • Ant Henson
    • Rachel Henson
    • David Miles
    • Gerald Morgan
    • Dave Moss
    • Dave Randle
    • Robin Roberts
    • Tom Scanlan
    • Glen Smale
    • Keith Ward
    • John Price Williams
  • More…
    • About Wheels Alive
    • Tips for using this website
    • Useful Links
  • A-Z

Wheels Alive

Old cars, new cars, borrowed cars & blue cars. If it steers it's here!

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Higher levels of ethanol in petrol spell danger and disaster for older cars and their owners…

Author/Source: Robin Roberts

4th March 2020

Government plans for a new petrol standard next year will hit 600,000 motorists who cannot use it and lead to social hardship and exclusion, according to the RAC. Robin Roberts (and ‘Wheels Within Wales’) reports…

The Government has proposed replacing the minimum E5 standard for petrol blended with ethanol and substituting an E10 grade, which uses more ethanol but produces less carbon emissions.

However, engineers say it may need engines being retuned,  has less thermal efficiency and fuel consumption will rise, so offsetting the perceived benefits.

The move is also likely to depress the value of used models more steeply and leave some motor dealers with models they cannot sell off forecourts or put into auctions.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said, “Everybody agrees that steps must be taken to reduce emissions from road transport, however introducing E10 as the standard petrol will pose some challenges.

“Firstly, ​as the RAC Foundation points out, there could be as many as 600,000 vehicles on our roads that aren’t compatible with the fuel.

Many of these are likely to be owned by those from lower income backgrounds and while it is welcome that E5 petrol is not being phased out altogether, owners of these vehicles will face higher fuel costs – and will also have to hunt out those forecourts that still sell E5.

Some retailers will also not have the capacity to be able to provide both E5 and E10 fuels on forecourts, so the impact is likely to be most keenly felt by those with incompatible vehicles in rural areas.

It is also vital that owners of affected vehicles are aware of the changes. We’d like to see the DVLA writing to these owners to inform them that E5 will no longer be the standard premium grade, and to let them know their options. This, alongside a trusted online resource where drivers can quickly identify if their vehicles are E10 compatible or not, will go a long way to avoiding any expensive problems from filling up wrongly with the new blend.

For the overwhelming majority of drivers with compatible vehicles, the introduction of E10 petrol will make little difference other than a possible slight reduction in fuel economy.”

What’s the science?

While the higher octane fuel can reduce some emissions, it does not cut out all harmful gases.

Use of E10 can cause increases in evaporative emissions and some pollutants depending on factors such as the age of the vehicle and weather conditions.

Disadvantages to ethanol fuel blends when used in engines designed exclusively for gasoline include lowered fuel mileage, metal corrosion, deterioration of plastic and rubber fuel system components, clogged fuel systems, fuel injectors, and carburettors, delamination of composite fuel tanks, varnish build up on engine parts, damaged or destroyed internal engine components, water absorption, fuel phase separation, and shortened fuel storage life.

It is outlawed for use in aircraft engines on safety grounds.

Kim adds: This is short-sighted, misguided and extremely bad news for the owners of older cars and classics. At the very least it will result in a serious fire risk in any older vehicle not designed to run on E10 fuel, and which has not had its fuel system modified to cope with this ‘aggressive’ fuel, which destroys rubber, cork, plastic and metal components in the fuel systems of older vehicles. If you have any doubts about the implications for your own vehicles, I urge you to read Dave Moss’s excellent features on this. These were published on Wheels-Alive in 2016 and highlighted the potential dangers and other problems associated with the possible introductioon of E10 petrol. To read Part 1, please click HERE (and there are links within this feature to Parts 2 and 3).

An additional quote from a fellow owner of older/classic cars, and echoed by many thousands of others: “It’s the end of the road for our classics if this does come in nationally. A devious back door ploy to force scrappage and make people buy over priced electric cars and travel more by buses and trains.”

If you have an older vehicle or a classic, check its entire fuel system for compatability with E10 petrol containing higher levels of ethanol…

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_ethanol_fuel_mixtures

Save Post as PDF

Categories: News & Views

Tip: For improved search accuracy, enclose search terms for multiple words in quotation marks. For example:
"Land Rover".

Advertise with us
A-ZPlease visit the A-Z page for listings by make, model, year etc. and an advanced search form.

Recent Posts

Latest Citroën C3 – Road Test

Aston Martin’s St Athan plant will be vital in the company’s future

Bargain Basement Bimmer – Part One of a three part series about enjoying a modern classic Z3

Classic Clubs Series – No. 4 – The MG Owners Club

Ford Focus mild hybrid – Road Test

Fiat 500X Sport SUV – Road Test

New Suzuki Swace – Road Test

Motor Ombudsman poll reveals car buying at showrooms remains firmly in the driving seat

Contributors

contributors

Our well-respected contributors live and breathe motor cars; aren’t we lucky?

Contributors to the site include talented, highly-respected people (so they tell me) on the hallowed membership list of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and from the similarly well thought-of Western Group of Motoring Writers. In addition there are valued contributions from other knowledgeable and capable motoring writers who have something useful to say about all aspects of driving and running vehicles in the 21st Century. All of our team are passionate about motor cars!


Read about our contributors  ››

Popular Tags

4WD 4x4 4x4 SUV Audi Austin Beaulieu BMW Book review British Motor Museum City car Compact SUV Convertible Coupé crossover Electric Electric Cars electric vehicle estate Estate car five door estate five door hatchback Ford four door saloon hatchback Honda hot hatchback Hybrid Hybrid SUV Kia large SUV luxury SUV Mazda MG mid-size SUV Mini Mitsubishi MPV news News round-up Nissan People carrier PHEV Pick-up plug-in hybrid saloon seven seater MPV Seven seater SUV Skoda sports sports car Sports saloon sporty hatchback Supermini SUV Suzuki The Motor Ombudsman three door hatchback Tyres Vauxhall Volkswagen
All Tags ››

Wheels Alive Social

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Like us on Facebook

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

My Tweets

Contact us

We welcome your questions, comments and feedback. Please click here to contact us.

Advertising Opportunities

Please contact us if you would like to discuss advertising opportunities on Wheels Alive.

Please share our website

Copyright © 2021 Kim Henson, Wheels Alive