The Truth about Flex-Fuel Vehicles - Toyota Parts Blog

Have you thought about buying a flex-fuel vehicle? Do you know what one is?

To help you understand flex-fuel vehicles, here is what you need to know.

1. Flex-fuel vehicles are powered by straight gasoline as well as a blend of gas and ethanol, an alcohol-based fuel made from crops such as corn.
2. The ethanol-based fuel is known as E85.
3. Flex-fuel vehicles usually have a yellow gas cap as well as body badges to let people know it can run on E85.

So should you purchase a flex-fuel vehicle?

It depends. To help you decide, here are some things that you need to consider.

• Flex-fuel vehicles are almost identical to standard vehicles. There are typically only a few modifications in the fuel system. If you own a Toyota flex-fuel vehicle, you’ll still be able to purchase genuine Toyota parts.

• Flex-fuel vehicles get 25 to 30 percent fewer miles on E85. That’s according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

• You use less imported fuel with flex-fuel. It’s a renewable fuel that is grown here in the United States.

According to Cars.com, roughly 7 million vehicles on the road today are flex-fuel vehicles. They’ve been around for quite some time now.

However, it remains to be seen whether they’ll catch on in popularity.

What do you think? We’d love to hear your thoughts on flex-fuel vehicles.