Friday, September 29, 2006 10:24 PM CDT
Charleston man plots locations of E85 pumps to a make trip -- and a point
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com
Paul Wikoff undertook an extensive amount of research on the Internet before embarking on a recent 1,400-mile road trip through four states.
The Charleston resident was not searching for potential hotels to stay at or tourist attractions to visit: He was plotting the locations of filling stations that offer E85 fuel. His goal during the Aug. 31-Sept. 4 trip was to travel from his home to the Minnesota State Fair and back using only fuel that derives 85 percent of its content from ethanol.
“Every time I fueled up, it was with E85,” Wikoff said. “There were enough (E85 pumps) that if you took major roads you could get from one station to the next.”
However, Wikoff’s gas tank was nearly empty by the time he returned late in the evening to Charleston, where there are no E85 pumps. He had to buy gasoline with an ethanol content of only 10 percent for his flexible fuel 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe, which can use E85 or other fuels more commonly found at filling stations.
Showing the feasibility of an “E85 Road Trip” is part of Wikoff’s ongoing campaign to encourage more drivers to use that ethanol-based fuel. He hopes increased demand from their customers will prompt Charleston and Mattoon filling stations to offer E85 pumps.
A video of the “E85 Road Trip,” filmed by Wikoff’s wife, Rachel, can be found at his Web site, www.geocities.com/colesE85.
Wikoff, a vice president with Farm Credit Services of Illinois, said he is naturally a supporter of E85 use because he works with farmers and grew up on a farm near Galesburg.
“Biofuels will help farm incomes increase, which puts food on their tables and clothes on their children’s backs,” Wikoff said.
The desire to help farmers and to see the United States reduce its dependence on foreign oil spurred him to become an active proponent for E85, he said.
Wikoff acknowledged his vehicle’s fuel efficiency does decrease by 15 percent when he uses E85. But he said that is offset by E85 typically being cheaper than other fuels and by Illinois offering an annual $450 tax rebate for E85 use.
“You have to use it for at least half the year to qualify for getting the tax rebate,” Wikoff said. He encourages E85 users to save their sales receipts.
His Web site states that more than 6 million flexible fuel vehicles are driven in the United States today, with many models from Daimler Chrysler, Ford, General Motors and others featuring this capability. Wikoff said many drivers do not realize their vehicles can use E85.
Wikoff said a lot of ethanol is being produced in the United States, but the demand for that fuel has to be driven by consumers.
“The consumers are the key,” Wikoff said.
John Sigler, service enterprise manager with Eastern Illinois University’s facilities planning and management department, said Eastern leaders would likely think about buying flexible fuel vehicles for its fleet if an E85 pump were available in Charleston. He said the state’s funding troubles would likely prevent Eastern from getting an E85 storage tank of its own in the foreseeable future.
Eastern runs most of its 180 vehicles on fuel containing a 10-percent blend of ethanol and recently purchased a couple of Toyota Prius electric hybrids, Sigler said.
Will O’Brien, director of petroleum supplies for Springfield-based Qik-n-EZ and Chronister Oil Co., said the company started offering E85 pumps nearly two years ago at 11 filling stations in Illinois, including the Qik-n-EZ station in Shelbyville.
O’Brien said the company made that decision because it wanted to support the people who farm and work at ethanol plants in the communities that Qik-n-EZ serves. He also noted that E85 is a cleaner burning fuel that helps reduce dependence on foreign oil.
In addition, O’Brien said having E85 pumps installed puts Qik-n-EZ in a good position to meet demand if the market grows in that direction. He said selling E85 is still not as profitable as selling other fuels, otherwise more filling stations would offer E85. Nevertheless, he said Qik-n-EZ officials have been pleased with sales at the chain’s E85 pumps.
“We are very happy with it and we want to promote it long term,” O’Brien said.
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 348-5734.
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 Ken Trevarthan (JG/T-C)
E85 fuel supporter Paul Wikoff is pictured next to his flexible fuel 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe on Wednesday afternoon near Charleston.
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