It’s the kind of dream you swear is real, but, sadly, isn’t. At least – not yet. And maybe never, but hey – let’s be positive thinkers, eh? Flexible-fuel vehicles are a great idea that may one day prove to be a significant answer to our fuel consumption needs. Led by domestic automakers, especially General Motors, flexible-fuel vehicles run on gasoline or E85, which is an 85 percent to 15 percent mix of ethanol and gasoline. Currently, we’re all using ethanol as a replacement for the chemical MTBE, but "E85" is a much stronger mix. That makes it a clean fuel that technically reduces our oil consumption, and even offers a slight improvement in performance. Unfortunately, E85 is only available at a few hundred pumps nationwide, and the method of refining – using corn – so far has resulted in E85 prices that are virtually the same as regular gasoline. There’s talk of expanding the way E85 is produced to sugar cane and other types of agricultural waste, though it’s best to take a wait-and-see attitude, given the strength of American farmers and their desire to keep that corn subsidy.

Also hurting E85 adoption is its inherent inefficiency: during a recent test drive, we clocked an average fuel economy of 13.4 miles per gallon using regular grade unleaded. A tank of E85 gasoline, in the same vehicle, registered just 10.4 miles per gallon, making the use of E85 more expensive. For example, let’s say you drive 300 miles, at $3.50 per gallon. Using E85 instead of gasoline results in more than $20 spent at the pump – which is exactly the opposite of what people are currently looking to accomplish. So, E85 is a bit of a false promise. Still, it is an alternative, a cleaner way to drive big vehicles like SUVs and trucks, and that in itself, should they ever manage to find a way to distribute it throughout the nation, would provide an environmental benefit. Bottom line, driving a big SUV using E85 is at least a more responsible way to drive a large vehicle in a small car world, even if the fuel doesn't quite measure up to its advertised benefits.

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