You, Too, Can Have a FlexFuel Vehicle (or, Your Favorite Car Can Go Vegetarian)

by Joanne Ivancic* (Advanced Biofuels USA) Since retrofitting a 2002 Ford Focus ZX3 to a FlexFuel vehicle in mid-November, we have substituted use of home-grown renewable fuel for 63% of a barrel of fossil fuel oil.

It was a bit of an adventure. Here at Advanced Biofuels USA, we decided that we should make our actions consistent with our advocacy. We decided to look into retrofit kits for my Focus. By doing this we could achieve a few educational goals.

First, we want to provide a technical analysis of the retrofitting process and the effect on the vehicle. Robert E. (Bob) Kozak, who performed the surgery (or installation) will create the charts and graphs and provide a narrative analysis of these technical aspects of this project.

Next, we'd find out first-hand what it really takes, practically and emotionally, to retrofit a car to use E85. Because it is quite clear that cars are not just machines or appliances that move people from one place to others. We develop emotional attachments to them, connect important life events to our vehicles. Some people even name their cars and talk to them as if they were pets or good friends.

Finally, we'd experience providing a new, healthy diet to the car. In the Mid-Atlantic where Advanced Biofuels USA's offices are located, E85 pumps are few and far between, although in the past couple of years, there have been some improvements.

We want to include not only stories about the effort that needs to be made to assure a well-balanced diet for the car close to home and on road trips; I also want to tell stories about the people who decide to sell renewable fuels to the general public and the stories of those who make the use of high blends of ethanol possible in old and new vehicles. For example, Fuel Flex International's Alex Conger who donated the E85 conversion kit for this project.

Kozak's experience 'under the hood' goes back to childhood and teen years when he hung out at race tracks. In the Peace Corps, he learned to fix outboard engines as part of his service with a fisheries program in Samoa. He eventually returned to Washington, DC and was involved in writing parts of the Clean Air Act related to the "probe up the tailpipe" emissions testing programs. Then he worked on state implementation of those programs around the US.

Realizing that with unleaded gasoline, catalytic converters and computer-managed engine performance, emissions were about as clean as they were going to get for quite a while. He redirected his attention to making the fuels cleaner, convinced that improvements in air quality could result from development of fuels and engines that would complement each other. Now, he serves as Advanced Biofuels USA's key analyst of how policies (federal and state legislation and regulation), fuels and engines can work together to improve air quality, engine performance, efficiency and mileage, including climate change mitigation.

In "Walking the Walk in Advanced Biofuels USA's "E30 and Beyond Retrofitted" Focus," he will describe, with photos, the installation and initial testing of the retrofit.

For my part, I'll focus on the more personal aspects. Excitement of the first ride with high performance high octane high ethanol blend fuel. Anger on the Pennsylvania Turnpike where not only was the E85 much more expensive than regular; but you had to stand in line at the cashier before being permitted to purchase it. Fun ways that stations avoid potential misfueling. The thrill of putting the Fuel Flex insignia on the bumper. And stories of the people who make this possible.