Better fuel economy than expected
A detailed assessment of the technical performance of 93 FFVs (11 different models used in a variety of situations at all sites) revealed 1–26% higher energy efficiency when running on E85, which resulted in better fuel economy than expected. In the best case only 1.14 times more E85 than petrol was necessary (instead of the theoretically assumed 1.41). This represents a significant finding and is an important area for future research. If engines could be adapted to the higher octane value in E85, increases in energy efficiency could be obtained and the fuel/energy consumption of bioethanol cars could be further reduced.