Car dealerships such as Bud Kouts Chevrolet in Lansing sell many of the E85 vehicles being produced.

General Motors Corp. produces vehicles such as Impala, Silverado and Monte Carlo that are equipped to run on either E85 or regular unleaded fuel, according to GM.

Daimler/Chrysler Corp. produces the Sebring sedan and convertible as E85 compatible as well as many SUVs including the Durango and Aspen.

Mike West, manager of Bill Marsh Auto Group in Traverse City said only about one of every 10 cars he sells in an E85 vehicle.

“We haven’t had that many, and people haven’t asked about them,” West said.

Traverse City doesn’t have many ethanol pumps, so an E85 vehicle doesn’t have much value yet in the area, he noted.

Ford Motor Corp., which also makes E85 vehicles, has the F150, Crown Victoria, Grand Marquis and the Town Car as its flexible fuel vehicles. 

Manager Brandon Chien of McDonald Ford in Freeland said hybrids are more popular than E85s. In the five months that he has been manager, “nobody has come in and asked about them,” he said. 

More than 30 Michigan gas stations have E85 pumps, including some in Jackson, Grand Rapids, Detroit and Lansing and one as far north as Menominee.

State Agriculture Director Mitch Irwin, a supporter of E85 vehicles, drives a Chevrolet Tahoe that carries the GM slogan “Live Green, Go Yellow.”  Irwin said that Gov. Jennifer Granholm also drives an E85 vehicle.

E85 is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.  Ethanol is a renewable resource made mainly from corn but can be made from other agricultural products such as grasses, wood, fruit and food-processing waste.