New ‘E10’ fuel could cost drivers £billions

A Government proposal to implement a new type of petrol fuel called ‘E10’ has been met with outrage, with consumer car publication What Car? branding the plans as “irresponsible.”

E10 petrol could potentially cost UK drivers billions of pounds each year, as the new fuel is less efficient and more polluting than the current blend of petrol used in the UK.

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Petrol sold in Britain already conforms to E5 rules, containing up to 5% bio-ethanol by volume.

This is part of Parliament’s commitment to the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive, which requires 10% of energy used in road transport to be generated from renewable sources by 2020.

Despite this drive by the current British government to reduce greenhouse gas and CO2 emissions, according to What Car? True MPG testing, E10 fuel is less efficient than the current E5 blend currently sold at UK forecourts.

The team tested a number of different engines, recording poorer fuel economy and CO2 emissions results for every vehicle.

The fuel economy of a three-cylinder turbocharged Dacia Sandero, a naturally aspirated Hyundai i30, a Toyota Prius+ hybrid and a four-cylinder turbocharged Mini Paceman were all assessed using both E10 and E0 ‘pure’ petrol.

The Dacia returned an 11.5% drop in economy, while the Hyundai i30 was “almost as bad,” covering a 9.8% shorter distance on E10 compared to E0. Every car emitted more CO2 over the recorded distance.

This means although E10 fuel is being branded as ‘greener’ due to the greater quantity of renewable-derived bio-ethanol, the reduced amount of energy per litre means you have to use more of it when compared with E5.

As shown by the test results, this creates more CO2 and reduces fuel economy.

It also has a significant effect on the cost of running and operating a vehicle. According to What Car? the introduction of E10 could cost UK motorists billions of pounds more due to the impact on economy.

It stand to reason the less economical your car is, the more you’ll have to fill up, pushing up the already significant cost of car ownership.

So what do you think about the move to E10?

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By motoringresearch.com