"I would be willing to use it but it costs too much."
What is the actual difference in fuel economy with different grades of fuel?
There is no better way to do this than to test each fuel. Our test vehicle was a 2013 Chevy Malibu with a 2.4 liter gas engine that was flex fuel capable. To set up this test we ran through all fuel grades once with a full tank of fuel. The tank was emptied as low as possible prior to refilling to separate the different fuels as much as possible. We also did all fuel tests in the winter time so all fuel samples were done with a winter blend fuel. Winter blend fuels get a little less fuel economy than summer blend fuels, so we did the fuel economy tests in order from E0 to E85.
*DISCLAIMER- We have only used one vehicle and one sample of fuel for this test for this to be more accurate we need to include a larger sample size of fuel economy tests.*
The results from this is pretty much what we would all expect. Our fuel economy drops as our fuel alcohol content increases. this is because ethanol has a much lower energy content than gasoline. For us to get a number that matters we need to calculate our cost per mile. This will give us an apples to apples comparison for the different types of fuel. the math is easy we simply need to take our mileage per gallon divided by our cost per gallon to get our answers.
Now a cost per mile tells us which fuel is cheapest per mile but it really doesn't have any real meaning to our wallets. We decided to look at the cost the average american would spend over the course of a year. According to the Department of Transportation the average American drives 13,476 miles every year.
Lets look at this data and see what we can learn from it. First we see that E0 is by far the most expensive option that we can use. The important note here is that E0 in our area is only offered as a premium grade fuel (By that we mean 92 octane, if you arent sure what that means go here to find out more) this does skew the price somewhat if it was actually 87 octane the price would be much lower.
Next lets look at E10, This is the standard grade of gasoline that is at ALL gas stations. At this point in time this is the cheapest option but the other options (E15, E30, and E85) really aren't that far off, realistically the difference in cost was about $20 dollars for an entire year. The downside though is that even though you have a similar price per gallon you will have to fill up more often with the higher grades of ethanol.
Finally lets look at E85. This one does have a little higher annual fuel cost and to us it appears at this point in time that it would not be our first choice simply because it will cost more and we will need to stop to fill up more often. Having said that E85 does have the lowest emissions out of all of the fuels tested so if that is important to you it is a factor to consider.
Final thoughts.
Ultimately it looks like most of your options are pretty similar in cost so you don't need to be too worried about which option you choose. If your preference is distance between fill ups then E10 is your guy, if on the other hand you are more concerned abut emissions then Check out your higher grades of ethanol Just remember that the price of these fuels do change over time so these numbers do have the potential to change over time. Happy cruising!