E15 Fuel

[Myron D. Brown]

Hello,

 

I have a 2017 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid Black Label. I was just noticing yesterday that a lot more gas stations in my area are carrying E15 fuel. I looked in my owner's manual, and it says: "Your hybrid vehicle can use E15 (15% ethanol, 85% gasoline) fuel, but you may notice slightly reduced fuel economy because ethanol contains less energy per gallon than gasoline. Your hybrid vehicle is not designed to use E85 (85% ethanol)."

 

Do any of you have experience using E15 fuel? And what are your thoughts? Although the owner's manual said I can use E15, a quick Google search for "E15 fuel" yields results about warnings and bad reviews. If I understand correctly, the EPA has certified that all 2012 or later models sold in the U.S. are certified to run on E15. And any 2001 or later vehicle should be okay. Buthis AAA has said that E15 can cause damage/corrosion to some components because of the higher percentage of ethanol. E15 is only $2.18/gallon here, whereas 87 octane is $2.25/gallon.

 

Thanks!!

Edited October 7, 2016 by Myron D. Brown

[Jon Hagen]

For the first time in my 20,000 mile 15 MKZ Hybrid, I filled with E15 instead of my normal avalible E10. Mpg on the 100 mile trip home was the normal 40 mpg , so I saw little to no change.      I have seen more mpg change from poorer quality(lower energy content) gasoline which is 90% of E10, or 85% of E15.      My MKZ hybrid seems less sensitive to fuel quality, compared to the 10 Prius it replaces. 

Edited March 12, 2017 by Jon Hagen