Freedom of choice: E20 ethanol blends take the value crown from gasoline, E10

Regional pricing in the real world

The real-world of market forces make the comparisons even stranger when you take into account the regional differences in prices for higher blends of ethanol.

Again looking at E85prices.com, which tracks regional variances — we see that the Midwest has far more attractive deals on E85 compared to standard unleaded, as a rule. In fact a ten-state grouping in the Midwest offered an average 21 percent discount on E85, compared to E10. All other states, by contrast, offered an average 7.4 percent discount on E85 compared to E10 unleaded.

Regional E85 price map, from E85prices.com

How that that work out in the real world? In the Midwest grouping of states, E85 will save 16 cents per gallon compared to standard E10 blends available from most pumps — after adjusting for the difference in fuel economy.

In today’s Digest, we put it all together into a look at real fuel economy – and the surprising winners – via the page links below.