Sioux Falls fuel station installs blender pumps

Sioux Falls has blender pumps!

The Kings Mart on the corner of Cliff Avenue and Benson Road here in Sioux Falls is just a little more than a mile from the POET headquarters. They had the new pumps installed Jan. 11, and I stopped by recently to top off my tank and see how the transition is going.

This, folks, is the future of the fuel station, and this is one big step closer to an open fuel market. People can pull up to the station and choose for themselves: E0, E10, E30 or E85.

I talked briefly with owner Doc Wang about the change.

“We wanted a little more business, so I was looking for something different,” he said. “And South Dakota is ethanol friendly.”

The hope, of course, is that someday soon blender pumps will not be “something different;” rather they will be the norm. However, as an early adopter, I’m sure Wang will get an ethanol bump from his purchase.

I’ve never understood the argument that offering higher blends of ethanol will cause mass confusion amongst the general public. People know the difference between regular and premium gasoline today, for instance. No one looks at a pump and assumes each option distributes an identical product.

Wang said his customers have handled the transition well.

“Maybe a couple people were confused at first, but not many,” he said.

The pumps are clearly labeled, and the higher ethanol blends have a yellow handle instead of a black one.

Thanks to Wang for being the first to take that important step. It’s never easy to blaze the trail, but his station will be a model for those that follow.

Technorati Tags: ethanol,blender pump,Sioux Falls,flex fuel,fuel station

Comments

[Warde Eckert]

It is very good to see that there are more stations
adding pumps for E85, why are more not avaiable?
I live in the northwest and you can't find a pump.
There are thousands of vehicles that can use E85
however there is no avaiability. Why is this??
Also why is it taxed the same as gasoline?
Does anybody have an answer?

[Matt Merritt]

To a degree, this has been a chicken-and-egg argument. More flex fuel vehicles (FFVs) will encourage stations to get blender pumps/more blender pumps will encourage drivers to get FFVs. The industry's been working on both fronts to break the gridlock, and I expect it will ramp up in the future in all areas of the country. Just the other day, for instance Ford recommitted to its promise that half its vehicles will be FFVs by 2012. It's already doubling it's FFV numbers this year.

As for taxes, in today's market, much of the ethanol tax credit is, in fact, passed on to the consumer.