Consumer Reports says E15 is safe for 2001 and newer cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty SUVs. The publication does, however, caution against using the fuel “in motorcycles or other small engines, heavy-duty trucks, or nonroad vehicles such as boats and snowmobiles.” For that reason, owners of those vehicles, along with users of gasoline-powered tools, should be wary when visiting fueling locations that have single-nozzle fuel pump setups. The EPA allows three fuel pump configurations for the sale of E15: a pump exclusively dedicated to dispensing the fuel, a common hose for dispensing both E10 and E15 gasoline blends, or a common hose that dispenses E15 along with flex fuels such as E20, E30, and E85.
In the first two configurations, the EPA has provided specific labeling and dispensing requirements to try to prevent the improper use of ethanol blends, but in the third case, the agency advises gasoline retailers to “work with the EPA” before offering E15 to customers. The regulations seemingly invite confusion at the pump: Even if a customer selects a non-ethanol blend, the nozzle and hose on the gas pump may contain more than enough residual E15 from the previous customer’s visit to contaminate an older vehicle’s fuel supply, or even fill a small fuel tank or portable gas container. On power equipment commonly used by commercial contractors and homeowners alike, that leftover ethanol blend can clog comparatively tiny carburetor jets and wreak havoc in a small engine, adding insult to the injury of paying a higher price for the gas you didn’t get and for repairs caused by the gas you did.
Mechanics have also warned that E15 can cause problems in regions of the US that experience significant seasonal weather changes where motorcycles, boats, snow blowers, lawn mowers, and gas-powered tools can be stored unused for months at a time.
“The fuel evaporates and leaves behind all the makeup in the fuel and clogs up passageways inside the carburetor to where they don’t run properly or they don’t start easily,” Troy Behrens, with Van Wall Equipment, a large John Deere dealer headquartered in Urbandale, Iowa, said. “So we’re replacing carburetors on a regular basis.”