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Can you use ethanol fuel as an alternative for your vehicle?

With gas prices still on the rise, many are tempted by the lower cost of ethanol fuel as they look to save money on gas. Experts, however, advise against it.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — We all know that gas prices are incredibly high right now, with many of us looking for ways to beat that price. 

With the prices increasing by the day, you might've even thought about that ethanol handle since the price is so much lower than everything else.

Mechanics like Deryan Coleman would discourage that thought though as he sees people bring their cars in for all sorts of issues at his shop, Coleman & Son Automotive in Little Rock.

"Normally they come in for automotive repairs," Coleman said. "That means you're leaking something, smelling something, or having some sort of drivability issue."

He sees a lot of those issues, but one thing he's seeing a little more of recently is people asking about using ethanol fuel.

"Not in a lot of vehicles, normally about 10% of vehicles made have flex fuel," he said.

Flex fuel refers to cars that can use both ethanol and regular gas. There's only a handful of stations around central Arkansas that even sell ethanol, but there's a noticeable difference in price.

At Kum & Go in North Little Rock, ethanol prices were sitting at $2.99 Friday afternoon.

While those prices are enticing, Coleman said using that fuel, if it's not properly rated for your car, can cause a lot of headaches down the road.

"Those prices may be cheap today, but in the future they could cost you thousands of dollars," he said.

Your car will pretty blatantly tell you what kind of fuel it can take – either on the gas cap or in your owners manual.

If you drive an ethanol-using car, experts said don't worry, supply issues like what happened with regular gas are unlikely.

"I don't think that's going to be an issue,"  Andrew McKenzie, Price-risk management specialist at the University of Arkansas, said. "We've got plenty of corn out there, and supply is probably not going to be an issue in terms of getting ethanol."

Back at the shop, Coleman said he gets where people are coming from in trying to find ways to save. Despite that he said there's other, less damaging way to keep more money in your wallet.

"The main thing to save gas is tire pressure, air filters, and you want to make sure you don't accelerate real fast," Coleman said. "Driving real fast does create more gas usage."

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