The firstgeneration chevrolet volt can run on e85 fuel with a simple tune and. This small size product is all you need for the ethanol conversion. Flex fuel is available for the kpro4 only when used with a prb or pra calibration. Using a high ethanol blend will quickly damage the fuel system, and even the engine. But one of the most eyeopening moments of the film is when john brackett, an automotive engineer from colorado, demonstrates how to reprogram your car to run on other fuels by tapping into its software system. The oems used to use ethanol sensors in the early days but used a model to help get rid of them to save money, but good oem grade sensors are widely available as a. E85 is rapidly becoming easier to find, but so is ethanolfree gasoline as the cost of oil has begun to.
Flex fuel offers the ability to compensate for different fuel ethanol content by using an ethanol content. A man is showing a crowd in times square how he can, in just a few seconds with a software upgrade, convert this gasoline powered chevy cruze into a flex fuel vehicle, and he wants you to consider. Since 2008, the company has commercialized a range of products that have been recognized for their performance and practicality. Capable of operating by combining gasoline and other fuels or by alternating between them. John brackett made a chevy volt run on e85, and it was easy november 2, 2015 4 comments in environment, over a barrel blog lhall by landon hall the chevrolet volt was originally meant to be a flexfuel vehicle, capable of running on ethanol blends up to e85. With the eflexfuel conversion kits you can use environmentally friendly bioethanol fuel in your vehicle. View john bracketts profile on linkedin, the worlds largest professional. The identification of the mixture is made by the oxygen sensor also known as lambda probe. That conversion is something auto engineer john brackett did. John brackett is an engineer at pioneer energy in colorado, a company that captures and processes natural gas at well sites. Many cars can be made flexfuel with a software update.
Find 322 listings related to e85 gas stations in abilene on. Many cars can be made flexfuel with a software update youtube. Gm says flexfuel cars need a software upgrade wired. On that page, the critical part of johns tune is setting stoich to around e55 or so, which is what allows us to run e85 without larger injectors. Many cars can be made flexfuel with a software update is an. According to john brackett an automotive engineer featured in fuel freedoms. Gm says that its flexfuel vehicles may have been reading this incorrectly, according to kxmc tv in north dakota. Flexible fuel vehicles ffvs are designed to run on gasoline or gasolineethanol blends of up to 85% ethanol e85. Brackett pulled it off by making a few simple changes to the software in the. A flex fuel vehicle ffv is a vehicle with an internal combustion engine capable of operating on a mixture of fuels, typically gasoline and ethanol. Cobb has a flex fuel kit for an sti for example ej257 engine that includes hacked ecu software and an additional sensor that is oem grade. Ffvs experience no loss in performance when operating on e85, and some generate more torque and horsepower than when operating on gasoline.
The engine of a flex fuel vehicle is pretty much the same as a regular gasoline engine. Vehicles that can be powered by this mix are called flexible fuel vehicles, flexfuels or ffvs sources. Doe office that works to strengthen the united states energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality in publicprivate partnerships by 1 enhancing energy efficiency and productivity and 2 bringing clean, reliable and affordable energy technologies to the marketplace. Gm didnt make the volt flexfuel capable, but those who would like to burn ethanol, its possible. Flex fuel basically means that your ford can run on different mixtures of fuel. The news stems form one automotive engineering, john brackett, who. Buttons are reliable and when software inevitably slows down, theres no telling how hard it will be to revive broken functions down the road. Flex fuel vehicles have been produced since the 1980s, and come in dozens of models.
Theres a badge on your car that says flex fuel, ffv, or e85. The delicious tuning flexfuel kit is easy to install, disconnecting two fuel lines with the provided tool, disconnecting one sensor, installing our own mounting bracket and plugging the new connections into your vehicle. Sep 18, 2014 few citizens know that most american cars already have the capacity for using flex fuels, requiring just a software. John brackett is one of the stars of the fuel freedomproduced documentary pump, but hes more than just a pretty muttonchopped face. E85 or flex fuel is a gasolineethanol blend containing 51% to 83% ethanol, depending on geography and season. The lower price of flex fuel couldnt compensate for even a small reduction in miles per gallon. Hes since started the fuel freedom foundation, which advocates for. When flex fuel sensor is activated and working, you can use the ethanol concentration value as axis sources in all.
This percentage is legally mandated by state and local laws and can. Brackett, an automotive engineer featured in fuel freedom s 2014 documentary pump hes the muttonchopped guy, hence the moniker fuelverine, recently bought a 20 volt. Neither brackett, nor insideevs is suggesting that you convert you. Flex fuel vehicles are therefore not the same as bi fuel vehicles, which have separate tanks for each different fuel type they use. General motors left all the necessary software for flexfuel capability. Flex fuel vehicles are therefore not the same as bifuel vehicles, which have separate tanks for each different fuel type they use. According to john brackett an automotive engineer featured in fuel freedom s 2014 documentary pump, you need to do a few simple changes to the software in the vehicle s onboard computer to convert the engine so it would run seamlessly on e85. Links to information related to flex fuel vehicles. Never put e85 in a vehicle unless youre completely certain it is a flex fuel model. To use less oil, we need to think about cars as software. Gm says that its flex fuel vehicles may have been reading this incorrectly, according to kxmc tv in north dakota.
What is flex fuel and does it cost more to fix a car. The only reason they were ever flexfuel in the first place was cafe standards corporate average fleet economy. Converting chevrolet volt to run on e85 is easy insideevs. The flex fuel import is used in conjunction with the racerom custom maps system to allow a greater range of calibration options. In america right now, were under the impression that you have to change a ton of parts to make this run off of alcohol fuels, says auto engineer john brackett. Btw, i was told today that john bracketts e85 volt conversion was fuel. What is flex fuel and does it cost more to fix a car that. It took me about 2 minutes to change the software program and. Flexfuel energy developments main areas of expertize are. Modern flexfuel engines are capable of burning any proportion of the resulting blend. To use less oil, we need to think about cars as software platforms. Drivers jumping on the latest gassaving bandwagon may be in for a shock when they see fueleconomy estimates for the newest darlings of detroit. A flexible fuel vehicle ffv or dual fuel vehicle colloquially called a flex fuel vehicle is an alternative fuel vehicle with an internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel, usually gasoline blended with either ethanol or methanol fuel, and both fuels are stored in the same common tank. Check the owners manual to see if your car is flex fuel compatible.
John has thoroughly investigated software solutions that allow car owners to reprogram their cars to accept a variety of fuels, including methanol, ethanol and gasoline. The worst complaints are poor fuel economy, fuel propulsion system, and fuel system, gasoline. The total install time should take no longer than 2030 minutes. Flex fuel vehicles, as duel fuel vehicles, have an internal combustion engine capable of functioning with a mixture of fuels. When flexfuel is selected as fuel stoich afr, all fuel calculations uses this value, ex crank and warmup enrichment. A flexiblefuel vehicle ffv or dualfuel vehicle colloquially called a flexfuel vehicle is an alternative fuel vehicle with an internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel, usually gasoline blended with either ethanol or methanol fuel, and both fuels are stored in the same common tank. Vehicles that can be powered by this mix are called flexible fuel vehicles, flex fuels or ffvs sources.
According to john brackett an automotive engineer featured in fuel freedoms 2014 documentary pump, you need to do a few simple changes to the software in the vehicles onboard computer to convert the engine so it would run seamlessly on e85. What is the difference between ethanol, e85 and flexfuel. This may seem a little silly to some, but a lot of people dont know they own a flex fuel vehicle. The new vehicles dont use a sensor in the tank, they use the wideband readings and can adjust for e85 fuel content. There are already nine million flex fuel cars on the road, and many of. John brackett made a chevy volt run on e85, and it was easy november 2, 2015 4 comments in environment, over a barrel blog lhall by landon hall the chevrolet volt was originally meant to be a flex fuel vehicle, capable of running on ethanol blends up to e85.
Using hp tuner software, fill the entire stoich table with a value of 11. Because eflexfuel products automatically adjusts the fuel injection you can refuel with any combination of ethanol and gasoline after the installation. Flexfuel cars require sensors that determine how much ethanol is in the mix. But even flex fuel car owners, who are already able to use a combination of ethanol and gasoline in their engines, have a hard time finding stations that offer higher ethanol blends. Aug 30, 2016 btw, i was told today that john brackett s e85 volt conversion was fuel freedom foundations top share for last year. Flexfuel definition of flexfuel by the free dictionary. Converting a chevy volt to e85 hybrid hev planet e85. The most popular alternative fuel today is e85, a mix of 15 percent unleaded gasoline and up to 85 percent ethanol. Flex fuel cars require sensors that determine how much ethanol is in the mix.
With the eflexfuel conversion kit you can use environmentally friendly bioethanol fuel in your vehicle. On top of that, many touch screen interfaces simply lack the redundancy of buttons to achieve the same function if there is a point of failure for any multitude of reasons. Because eflexfuel products automatically adjusts the fuel injection you can refuel with any. Its a plugin hybrid powered by electricity until the battery runs out, then the gasoline engine kicks in. Flex fuel vehicles normally run on a mixture of either ethanol or methanol and gasoline. As a result, you have to burn more fuel to generate the same amount of energy. Jul 30, 2014 the lower price of flex fuel couldnt compensate for even a small reduction in miles per gallon. Flexfuel energy development is a company dedicated to developing and producing technology and services dedicated to optimizing engine performance. So they put effort into making this into a flex fuel car. While flex fuel is great for the planet, its not without its drawbacks. Feb 23, 2015 in america right now, were under the impression that you have to change a ton of parts to make this run off of alcohol fuels, says auto engineer john brackett.
The new f150 flex fuel does it that way anyway if i remember correctly there is at least one person that has been getting good results from his flex fuel tune working with eric brooks. List of flexiblefuel vehicles by car manufacturer wikipedia. Flexfuel vehicles have been produced since the 1980s, and come in dozens of models. E85 gets its name from the way it inverts that formula, at 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent conventional gasoline. Converting ones car to run on alternative fuels is technically not legal, as is. E85 ethanol flex fuel explained about onethird of all gasoline sold in the united states contains some ethanol, typically in a ratio of 90 percent gasoline and 10 percent ethanol. I thought they were the same thingethanol is an alcohol derived from distilling plant matter, typically corn and sugarcane byproducts. Flex fuel vehicles have minor alterations to the fuel system to allow then to run on flex fuel. Many cars on the road today could run on these fuels with inexpensive upgrades or simple software fixes, according to the film.
In this case, the engine has been tuned on e68, and verified to perform well using e10 and e90. Flex fuel vehicles have system alterations that allow them to properly run on an ethanolmixed fuel. And government support for the flex fuel friendly vehicles that can run on either e85 or gasoline is indirectly causing more gasoline consumption rather than less. Air and fuel are precisely metered, prepared and distributed for each combustion cycle. This video is about oft flex fuel install in a subaru brz with the phantom electric supercharger. This includes the standard pump gasoline blend of 1015% ethanol and 8590% regular gasoline or the increasingly common e85, which is an 85% ethanol blend. To see how e85 ethanol stacks up against gasoline, consumer reports put a test vehicle, the 2007 chevrolet tahoe flexible fuel vehicle ffv through an array of fuel economy. Look for a sticker on the fuel door that refers to flex fuel. The oems used to use ethanol sensors in the early days but used a model to help get rid of them to save money, but good oem grade sensors are widely available as a result.
So they put effort into making this into a flexfuel car. The news stems form one automotive engineering, john brackett, who says the 1. The only reason they were ever flexfuel in the first. Btw, i was told today that john bracketts e85 volt conversion was fuel freedom foundations top share for last year. A flexfuel vehicle ffv is a vehicle with an internal combustion engine capable of operating on a mixture of fuels, typically gasoline and ethanol. John brackett made a chevy volt run on e85, and it was easy. Run a new v6 chevrolet impala on goodold gasoline, and itll get 21 miles per gallon in. The maps can be used to increase the desired fuel quantity to make sure the engine runs correctly, it can increase boost or advance ignition timing to make the most of the knock supressing quality of ethanol fuels. You can find out your vehicles mpg estimate for gas and e85 at fueleconomy. The chevrolet volt was originally meant to be a flexfuel vehicle, capable of. As ethanol content is adjustedchanges the ecm interpolates between the main timing tables and the ethanol spark table b5114 factored against b5145. Few citizens know that most american cars already have the capacity for using flex fuels, requiring just a software. On that page, the critical part of john s tune is setting stoich to around e55 or so, which is what allows us to run e85 without larger injectors.
Flexfuel definition and meaning collins english dictionary. Flexible fuel vehicles flexible fuel vehicles ffvs have an internal combustion engine and are capable of operating on gasoline and any blend of gasoline and ethanol up to 83%. Ethanol is a more abrasive fuel and produces more oxygen. The worst complaints are poor fuel economy, fuelpropulsion system, and fuel system, gasoline. Buttons are reliable and when software inevitably slows down, theres no telling how hard. John believes americans can convert their cars to be flex fuel with these simple kinds of updates. In some situations the checkengine light goes on with e85, but brackett says that aint a big deal and you can switch to e60. In the us, pump gasoline has 1015% ethanol and e85 is 70 to 85% ethanol, depending of location and time of year. E85 is a certain concentration of fuel and ethanol, being anywhere between 5185% ethanol and the remaining percentage is gasoline. And basically what they said is that, hey, your 6 miles per gallon tahoe, since it only burns 15 percent gasoline running on e85, is a 66 mpg vehicle. Volkswagen offers the following vehicles in the brazilian market under the label total flex because they are capable of running on any blend from e20e25 to e100.
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