Superethanol E85 fuel and motorcycle
Content
Convert your 2-wheeled bike to bioethanol?
For a long time, we bikers had a limited choice of gasoline pump in terms of fuel: 95 or 98 lead or lead free? Since then, the situation has changed somewhat with the generalization of SP95 E10, which contains 10% ethanol and is not recommended for all models, especially older ones. We also have to deal with another “super fuel”, but still relatively little used: E85.
What is E85?
E85 is a fuel made up of gasoline and ethanol. Also called super ethanol, its ethanol concentration ranges from 65% to 85%. By using the processing of plants containing sugar or starch and relying less on fossil fuels, this fuel has a price advantage, primarily because it is, on average, 40% cheaper than lead-free gasoline, even if this results in higher fuel consumption.
Used for a long time in many countries like the United States or Brazil, it appeared in France in 2007.
Price asset
What makes super ethanol a major concern is its price, on average twice as expensive as one liter of SP95 / 98 gasoline. The E85 does cost an average of € 0,75 per liter compared to € 0,80 for LPG, € 1,30 / l for diesel, € 1,50 / l for the SP95-E10 and € 1,55 / l for the SP98. As a result, buying a box or conversion kit quickly becomes profitable in the short term. However, experts tend to demonstrate that engine life will be reduced by about 20% with such kits.
Environmental asset
Total announces that its SuperEthanol E85 will cut CO2 emissions by 42,6%. Added to this is the fact that dependence on fossil fuels will be less important. Contradictions will say that making fuel at the expense of spaces that can grow food is insane.
E85 limits
Despite being presented as the fuel of the future, E85 is struggling to establish for several reasons: the lack of existing vehicles and a very low pumping network (less than 1000 in France, or 10% of the station fleet!). Under these conditions, it is not easy to encourage users to take a course on FlexFuel vehicles, that is, those capable of driving with any gasoline.
In the car, only a few manufacturers tried the adventure before stopping. Today Volkswagen is the latest to offer FlexFuel with its Golf Multifuel. For two-wheeled vehicles, the situation is even simpler, as no manufacturer has yet released a motorcycle or scooter designed to use the E85, the latter already being very careful with the E10.
Risks associated with E85
Currently, no two-wheeler model is designed to drive an E85 vehicle. Therefore, its use is strongly discouraged on the factory model. On the other hand, conversion kits are expected to allow this fuel to be used on any injection engine.
However, a high alcohol mixture is also more corrosive and can have consequences for wear on certain parts, including hoses and injection pumps. Another problem caused by the use of superethhanol concerns its higher consumption, which requires a higher flow of injectors. However, even if they are open to their maximum, they do not necessarily achieve the optimum flow required for good combustion.
Conversion kits
To cope with the poverty of supply, many manufacturers have been selling conversion kits for over a decade to ensure proper engine function and proper power supply from a simple electronic control unit costing around 600 euros.
Until then, the practice, open to everything and everyone, the practice was finally regulated only in December 2017 with the introduction of the procedure for the approval of conversion boxes. At the moment, only two manufacturers have been approved: FlexFuel and Biomotors. This certification is intended, in particular, to ensure the guarantee of mechanical parts without causing any interference or to keep the vehicle at its original European standard.
Article 3 of the decree of November 30, 2017 reads:
[…] The manufacturer guarantees the integrity of the engines and emission control systems on which the conversion unit it sells is installed. He accepts responsibility for any possible deterioration of the condition of motors and after-treatment systems in connection with the installation of this device and must demonstrate its capacity; […]
Therefore, this expected evolution of legislation should allow regulating the transformation of vehicles and reassuring ... the car users. Yes, the order can be a step forward, but it only applies to cars and vans. In other words, the conversion on motorized 2-wheeled vehicles has not yet been approved, so the procedure remains illegal as it changes the type of reception of a motorcycle or scooter.
