You're viewing a single thread.
I think it has to do with how it’s dispensed. If the person before you bought regular fuel, the hose still might have residual fuel from the other kind, meaning you could end up with a different ethanol level than expected. That’s a fire hazard. 4 gallons is probably overkill but better safe than sorry.
Edit: basically, if you accidentally get half a gallon of 10% ethanol fuel and half a gallon of 15% ethanol fuel, you actually have 12.5%.
Has that always been the law and I just never noticed a sticker like that before?
Not sure how long it’s been a law but not a ton of places sell E15. I only ever see it on road trips personally.
https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/ethanol-e15
E15 is available in 31 states at just over 3,000 stations. E10 remains the limit for passenger vehicles older than model year 2001 and for other non-road and small engines and vehicles that use gasoline, such as lawn mowers, motorcycles, and boats.
Also this just happened: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-epa-allows-temporary-expansion-higher-ethanol-gasoline-blend-this-summer-2024-04-19/
The decision marks the third consecutive year the administration has lengthened the period during which Americans can keep buying E15, a gasoline that uses a 15% ethanol blend. Sales are effectively blocked from June 1 to Sept.
Adding ethanol to gasoline is known to increase smog pollution in hot weather, but research has shown little difference between E15 and the more-widely available E10 blends.
To put that in context, we have almost 200,000 gas stations. Like 1.5% sell it