Should I buy a 'flex-fuel' car?
Is it worth buying a bi-fuel (ethanol/petrol) car in Ireland yet? (Ford Focus C-Max 1.8 Flexi-Fuel for example)?
Robert Wolff (Dublin)Oct 2013 Filed under: fuel prices
Expert answer
Hi Robert,
Not even slightly. There was a fad of buying bi-fuel cars about five years ago, thanks partly to an experimental push on E85 bio-ethanol from fuel supplier Maxol, but mostly because such cars got a €2,500 VRT rebate due to their supposedly 'green' credentials. That all fell apart once (a) the new CO2-based tax system came in and (b) people realised that there simply isn't enough arable farmland to grow enough crops to make E85 for all of us, and still be able to feed ourselves. As far as we know, there are not even any E85 filling stations still running, so you're effectively just buying a standard 1.8 petrol, and not benefiting from the original VRT rebate.
Neil Briscoe - Complete Car Adviser@neilmbriscoe