Ethanol's Issue: Getting Acquainted with Drivers

By CHRISTOPHER MAAG - Published: Dec. 15, 2007 as part of NYT The Energy Challenge series

LIMA, Ohio — If America’s great ethanol fuel experiment is ever going to work, Bill Timmermeister will be among the first to know.

Mr. Timmermeister invested in a local ethanol plant that will ferment corn to produce 54 million gallons of ethanol a year beginning in January. He also owns the Lima Auto Mall, which sells more ethanol-burning cars than any dealership in town.

But by his account and that of others in the Midwest, ethanol remains a mystery to the motoring public, even in states that have pushed it hardest. The number of stations in the country selling E85, a fuel consisting mostly of ethanol, has jumped fivefold in the last three years, but it is still unavailable to the vast majority of motorists.

Americans drive millions of cars able to burn E85, but many do not even know it. Those who do are not always aware they must do some math every time they pull into a station to figure out which is cheaper, E85 or gasoline.

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