Are your boat and avalanche both e85 vehicles? if they dont say it on the gas cap or near it you cant just put it in your tank.

e85 vehicles are built to be able to use it so the gumming doesnt happen

 

Should have made myself more clear. The Avalanche is rated for E85 fuel. As far as the boat no it is not, I never put E85 in the boat. The problems on the boat were caused by using fuel that had ethonal in the fuel. It is a well documented problem in the boating world. Not much most people can do about buying gas with some ethonal in it, since that's what 99.9% of the stations sell. My point is with what I have experienced I choose to not use E85 or fuel with ethonal in it on a regular basis. Regardless of the price you pay , ethonal contains less energy than gas. This means that your car won't go as far on a gallon of E85, and your fuel economy will decrease by 20-30 percent.

 

Cars/trucks that are made for e85 shouldn't have any problems running it. I use it in my D and my wife's Regal turbo with zero issues. I've done a lot of research on the subject and although there is a fuel economy loss due to e85, the performance gains are there and in my area the price difference is enough to make it worth while.

 

Someone commented that every grade has at least 10% ethanol but that is not the case, at least not everywhere. Here in SD (6th highest ethanol producing state and bordering #1, #2, and #4) we can get 0%, 10%, 85% and they're starting to put in blender pumps which allow several other percentages. I like the idea of any fuel that helps us become energy independent. Between electric, ethanol, shale/sand oil, and increasing mileage, I am optimistic. That said, I don't think I'd use E85 myself even though one our three cars is capable.

 

I do not use e85 in my durango as I have the 5.7l, but I do use e85 in my Gov patrol car everyday. I can tell you that in my Govy Impala, I get about 11 miles per gallon and what others have stated about gumming up parts of the fuel tank is quite true. It has gotten so bad in some patrol cars, fuel will not steadily flow into the tank because of a build up on the sensors on the top of the tank. This issue has been addressed several times with our motor pool. They have told us that is inevitable that the build up will occur and we will have to deal with every few thousand miles. I am sure some people can attest to the problems at the pump. As for performance, our newer cars do not seem to be affected much by it, but the older impalas have always been sluggish.

 

One of the reasons I fuel the boat up on the water. I'm sure friends of yours have had to replace fuel pumps because of the ethanol. In Florida, most of my friends and I will only fuel at the docks

 

Not to come out and call anyone a liar here, but I thought a little dose of truth would help here. I have seen several comments about the subsidies of ethanol (e85). The Ethanol industry did/does not receive "Billions" of dollars in subsidies. Ethonal has not received ANY subsidies in many years. Yes there was some subsidies to help it get started, but that was CENTS to the $100 that the oil industry receives EVERY year. Before you go bad mouthing the ethanol industry, please note the Billions of subsidies that Big Oil get and compare it to the ethanol industry that gets $0.
Yeah, is it the best? Not always. But it's still a renewable product that is doing something to help the issue of dependance on oil.
I grow corn, so I use it. I has done wonders for the corn industry. Has it hurt the livestock industry? Not one bit. Dried Distillers Grain is a by product from ethanol that has much higher nutrient value than straight corn. It's so popular that it's almost hard to get some.
Get the facts.

 

E85 is a waste of time.
It has less chemical bounds and thus energy per liter of product, to the point that you need to pay it about 30% less than regular petrol to break even energy-wise.
And the fact that it has higher octane value does not mean a thing in terms of power or energy. It is a poor fuel when compared to real and pure Petrol (Gas).
The cherry on the cake is that vehicles not specifically engineered for using E85 may suffer several problems in the sealing of the tank and the gas pipes.

Depending on where you live there might be much better alternatives.
LPG is the best one in the EU, because it is not taxed, it comes at 0.55 €/liter (the equivalent of $2 for a US Gallon), without loss of power and only minimal loss of mileage (10-20% depending on the quality of your LPG system). And a 90 Liters LPG tank can be mounted in place of the spare tire on the DD.
CNG is even cheaper (if not taxed) but the engine loses some power, not a big deal though. The CNG tank however takes up space in the trunk if the vehicle does not come factory equipped. This is a major pain in the neck for most.

 

I used to like the idea of E85 since it supports energy independence from unfriendly nations. Then I talked to a service manager who said that he would never advise using E85 unless you always run the vehicle long enough to fully warm up. If you use a car in town for short runs, you will foul out the plugs. One of our cars takes E85, but have never and never will run E85 in it. Perhaps E15 or E20 would be a workable compromise.