Kevin McCormally: I am Kevin McCormally of Kiplinger's and I am here with Mark Solheim Automotive Editor of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine to talk about E 85. Mark, we hear a lot about this stuff, what is it?
Mark Solheim: E 85 is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, which is used instead of gasoline.
Kevin McCormally: Can I put it in my car?
Mark Solheim: Probably not Kevin, because you have to have e special flex-fuel vehicle to do it and flex-fuel vehicles run on either ethanol or on a gasoline
Kevin McCormally: Are they expensive to buy?
Mark Solheim: No, because although they cost a little bit more manufacture, the car makers so far are passing that extra cost on the consumer. You can only buy E 85 at about 600 or 700 gas stations mostly in the Midwest and you also get a lot of fuel economy with it.
Kevin McCormally: So, a limited availability, a lower fuel economy, what's the big deal about E 85?
Mark Solheim: The big deal is that it is a renewable resource and it can substitute to a certain extent for gasoline. However, when you try and grow corn for a, the economics just don't work out.
Kevin McCormally: What's the long term hope for E 85?
Mark Solheim: Well, there is some hope because if we can change the production of ethanol from corn to other things such as wood chips and even prairie grass then the economics makes sense.
Kevin McCormally: Okay, thank you very much, Mark.
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