E10 Ethanol, it ruins your gas mileage...

"As far as I'm concerned, they may as well put water in the gas," Atkeson said.

When Atkeson first purchased his car, which uses gasoline and then electric power harnessed from the car's brake system to increase fuel mileage, he said he routinely got in excess of 50 miles per gallon. Recently he said his fuel economy has dropped to approximately 40 mpg on the highway and 35 mpg in the city.

"It just doesn't burn the same. I know Honda does not recommend burning that type of fuel in their vehicles, simply because they know it's going to drop the gas mileage. It doesn't combust the same," Guadagnino said.

 

How much energy?

Most automobiles and trucks in the United States are able to run on E10 fuel, but the fuel contains less energy than gasoline. According to the EIA, a gallon of gasoline has approximately 122,169 British thermal units of energy, compared with 83,333 Btu per gallon of ethanol.

Using EIA numbers, an approximate gallon of E10 gasoline should have about 118,285 Btu, 3.2 percent less than regular unleaded gasoline. How that affects fuel mileage in various model cars is disputed by proponents and opponents of ethanol production and consumers of the product.

According to the Renewable Fuels Association, the trade association for the U.S. ethanol industry, fuel injected cars may experience a decrease of approximately 2 percent in fuel economy using E10.

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