SURVEY BOOSTS METHANOL MOTOR FUEL

March 22, 1993
California vehicle fleets that use methanol powered flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) report general satisfaction with them compared with gasoline fueled vehicles. The California Energy Commission (CEC) cited a survey by the National Association for Fleet Administrators Inc. (NAFA), Islein, N.J., in making that claim. NAFA polled every California fleet operating methanol FFVs. The 79 responding fleet managers were responsible for about 85% of methanol FFVs on the road in California at yearend

California vehicle fleets that use methanol powered flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) report general satisfaction with them compared with gasoline fueled vehicles.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) cited a survey by the National Association for Fleet Administrators Inc. (NAFA), Islein, N.J., in making that claim. NAFA polled every California fleet operating methanol FFVs. The 79 responding fleet managers were responsible for about 85% of methanol FFVs on the road in California at yearend 1992.

Fleet managers and FFV drivers said they were satisfied with the FFVs, the survey found.

SURVEY DETAILS

Of fleet managers responding, 73% percent said they were equally satisfied with methanol FFVs compared with gasoline vehicles, 20% were less satisfied, and 7% were more satisfied.

"The survey confirms what we at the Energy Commission have known for many years, Commission Chairman Charles Imbrecht said. "We have been very satisfied with the operation of FFVs, and now fleet managers and drivers are expressing their satisfaction. We are sure that when other fleets and the general public get behind the wheel of an FFV, they will be convinced that methanol is indeed a 'clean fuel leader.'"

NAFA also asked fleet managers to provide a brief questionnaire to some of the individuals who regularly drive FFVs. A total of 167 drivers responded, with 60% saying they were equally satisfied with FFVs vs. gasoline vehicles, and nearly 23% were more satisfied. More than 10% of the drivers said they would purchase an FFV for personal use.

"You do not have to sacrifice comfort and driveability in a vehicle that uses alternative fuels," Imbrecht said.

"FFVs operate transparently. Except for the increased performance with methanol and a small gauge on the dashboard that tells you the percentage of methanol in your tank, you wouldn't even know you were driving a fuel-flexible vehicle."

NAFA surveyed fleet general managers that used 1992 and early model FFVs. AU of the major operating problems that occurred with the early models, namely 82% of the vehicles with fuel related repair and maintenance problems, have been solved with the current generation of vehicles available for sale today to fleets and the general public, CEC said.

The agency also noted automakers are dealing with the problem of reduced range in FFVs, due to methanol's lower energy content, by equipping them with larger fuel tanks.

FFV DETAILS

An FFV is a vehicle that can operate on methanol or gasoline in any combination from a single fuel tank.

Operating on M85, a blend of 85% methanol and 15% regular unleaded gasoline, CEC contends the FFV offers a 30-50% reduction in certain polluting air emissions vs. a comparable gasoline model.

At the time of the survey there were more than 2,000 FFVs on the road in California.

Nearly 6,500 additional FFVs are available for sale to fleets and the general public in 1993.

DISADVANTAGES

Methanol's purported air quality benefits are under dispute. Critics in the petroleum industry cite reports of increased emissions of formaldehyde from burning methanol and concerns about methanol's toxicity, cost, and range.

Chevron Corp., a pioneer in California's methanol fuels program, cited such concerns in suspending most of its program to add methanol motor fuel pumps in the state (OGJ, Apr. 6, 1992, p. 34).

Meantime, Chevron and other companies, associations, and government agencies are participating in a $10.7 million, 2 year trial of alternate motor fuels, including reformulated gasoline, to be conducted in southern California through June 1994 (OGJ, June 29, 1992, p. 36).

The major drawback to methanol cited in the NAFA survey is its limited availability.

Fleet managers said they used methanol in their vehicles only about two thirds of the time-62.4% of the fuel used was M85-because there were not enough refueling facilities and their drivers traveled outside areas where M85 fuel was available.

The NAFA survey showed 83% of fleet managers thought refueling facilities were inconvenient, and 61% said travel outside areas where fuel was available discouraged their using M85 full time.

Imbrecht noted that the dissatisfaction with the availability of methanol fueling locations is understandable and unavoidable with the M85 refueling network in its infancy.

"The Energy Commission has been working since 1988 to establish a network of M85 fueling facilities in California," he said. "Currently, 43 are open with another nine under construction. We have contracts with seven major oil companies and some independent companies to build 83 locations by 1994, and more will be added as the number of FFVs increases."

RATIONALES

Imbrecht said, "The advantage of an FFV, however, is that a driver can use methanol/M85 where it is available and gasoline where it is not. At the same time, the vehicle is helping our environment through lower pollution when using methanol."

In the NAFA survey, 78% of fleet managers said they were buying FFVs to help improve air quality, 73% cited public relations value with environmental concerns, and 38% said buying FFVs gives them expertise in alternate fuels.

Fleets will be required under the National Energy Policy Act of 1992 to phase in increasingly large numbers of alternate fueled vehicles into their fleets through the end of the 1990s.

Corporate fleet managers responding to the NAFA study said nearly 18% of their total new vehicles purchased in 1993 will be FFVs.

Copyright 1993 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.