Technical Report 

NREL/TP-540-44254 

October 2008 

National Survey of E85 

and Gasoline Prices 

P. Bergeron 
National Survey of E85 

and Gasoline Prices 

P. Bergeron 

Prepared under Task No. FC08.0032 

Technical Report 

NREL/TP-540-44254 

October 2008 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, Colorado 80401-3393 

303-275-3000 • www.nrel.gov 

NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy 

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 

Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC 

 Contract No. DE-AC36-08-GO28308
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Table of Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1

E85 and Gasoline Price Collection Results .................................................................................... 2

Regional Prices ............................................................................................................................... 4

Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................... 6

References ....................................................................................................................................... 6

Appendix: Summary of Price Ratios, Prices, and Survey Responses over Time, by Region ........ 7

iii 
Introduction 

The objective of this study was to compare the prices of E85 (i.e., fuel containing 85% ethanol 

and 15% gasoline) and regular gasoline nationally and regionally over time for one year. The 

United States was divided into six sampling regions based on the seven Petroleum 

Administration for Defense Districts defined by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) 

and used in EIA’s gasoline price reports [1]. To reduce the great disparity in the number of 

stations among the seven EIA regions, those regions were either split or combined to create the 

sampling regions shown in Table 1. 

Table 1. Composition of Sampling Regions* 

Sampling 

Region 

EIA Region States No. of Stations at 

Start of Project 

1 Central Atlantic and 

Lower Atlantic 

NY, PA, NJ, MD, DE, DC, WV, 

VA, NC, SC, GA, FL 

108 

2 Midwest MN 303 

3 Midwest (eastern 

states) 

MI, IN, OH, KY, TN, IL 323 

4 Midwest (western 

states) 

WI, SD, ND, IA, NE, MO, KS, OK 313 

5 Gulf Coast AL, MS, AR, LA, TX, NM 40 

6 Rocky Mountain and 

West Coast 

WA, OR, NV, AZ, CA, AK, HI MT, 

CO, WY, ID, UT 

67 

*New England had no E85 stations at the time of the survey. 

A sampling plan of the approximately 1,200 E85 stations that were operating nationwide at the 

time was devised to allow statistically significant regional and temporal comparisons of the data 

to be made within the limited data collection budget available. The Ethanol Promotion and 

Information Council (EPIC) used telephone surveys to collect the data in work done under a 

subcontract with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

(subcontract number NEV-7-77419-01). 

Telephone surveys of 120 individual stations that sell E85 were conducted every other week. 

Although 120 calls were made each time, fewer stations (81, on average) supplied both E85 and 

gasoline prices. To improve the temporal aspect of the survey, most of the stations were called 

three times over the first 6-month time period. The composition of each 120-station set was 

varied over time so that 600 different stations (roughly 50% of the total number) would be called 

over the 6-month period. 

To properly weight the regional prices in the national average, each sampling region was 

represented in each sample set in proportion to the number of E85 stations in that region. To 

account for the fast-growing number of E85 stations, the sampling plan was redone based on the 

updated list of E85 stations for the second 6-month period. 

1 
E85 and Gasoline Price Collection Results 

Figures 1 and 2 show the national average prices of gasoline and E85 between July 2007 and 

June 2008, along with the standard deviation for each price. The average standard deviation over 

the year for gasoline was $0.14 per gallon; for E85, the average standard deviation was $0.23 per 

gallon. 

 

Gasoline Price and Standard Deviation

2.50

2.70

2.90

3.10

3.30

3.50

3.70

3.90

4.10

6/17/078/6/07

9/25/0711/14/071/3/08

2/22/084/12/086/1/08

7/21/08

$/gallon

Figure 1. National average gasoline prices, with standard deviation

E85 Price and Standard Deviation

2.00

2.20

2.40

2.60

2.80

3.00

3.20

3.40

3.60

6/17/07

8/6/07

9/25/07

11/14/07

1/3/08

2/22/08

4/12/08

6/1/08

7/21/08

$/gallon

Figure 2. National average E85 prices, with standard deviation 

Figure 3 shows the two prices together and illustrates both the volatility of prices over this time 

period as well as how closely the movements in gasoline prices were reflected in the E85 prices. 

It also shows the gap between the two prices widening somewhat as the price of gasoline 

increased beyond about $3 per gallon. 

2 
National Average Prices

2.00

2.20

2.40

2.60

2.80

3.00

3.20

3.40

3.60

3.80

4.00

7/2/2007

8/2/2007

9/2/2007

10/2/2007

11/2/2007

12/2/2007

1/2/2008

2/2/2008

3/2/2008

4/2/2008

5/2/2008

6/2/2008

$/gallon

Gas Price E85 Price

Figure 3. EPIC national average prices over time 

Figure 4 is a plot of the national E85:gasoline price ratios over the time period. The ratios range 

from a high of 0.89 in August 2007 to a low of 0.82 in June 2008. Comparing the price ratio to 

the ratio of the energy content of E85 to that of gasoline—0.71 for 85% ethanol in E85 up to 

0.76 for 70% ethanol in E85 in some winter blends—allows us to determine which fuel costs less 

on a per-mile-driven basis. When the E85:gasoline price ratio is higher than the energy ratio, the 

consumer is paying more per mile for E85. 

National Average E85:Gasoline Price Ratio

0.76

0.78

0.80

0.82

0.84

0.86

0.88

0.90

7/2/20078/2/20079/2/2007

10/2/200711/2/200712/2/2007

1/2/20082/2/20083/2/20084/2/20085/2/20086/2/2008

Figure 4. Price ratios over time 

3 
Figure 5 shows that there is a slight downward trend in the E85:gasoline price ratio as the price 

of gasoline increases. This downward trend signifies an improvement in the per-mile cost of E85 

relative to gasoline as the price of gasoline increases. 

Trend of National Ratio vs National Gas Price

0.76

0.78

0.80

0.82

0.84

0.86

0.88

0.90

2.70

2.75

2.86

2.88

2.90

2.94

2.98

3.04

3.07

3.17

3.29

3.65

3.90

Figure 5. Trend of price ratios vs. gasoline price 

Regional Prices 

Table 2 lists the annual average regional E85:gasoline price ratios for the year of the study. 

These regions exhibited a fairly wide range of ratios, from a low of 0.83 for Minnesota to a high 

of 0.90 for the East Coast. The national average shown was calculated as the average of all 

reporting stations rather than as the average of the regional averages. 

Table 2. Average Annual E85:Gasoline Price Ratio and Response Rates for 12 Months 

Sampling 

Region 

EIA Regions E85:Gasoline 

Price Ratio 

Average 

Response Rate 

Percent of 

Target 

Responses 

1 Central & Lower Atlantic 0.90 9.7 81% 

2 Midwest – Minnesota 0.82 24.7 70% 

3 Midwest (eastern states) 0.87 16.6 54% 

4 Midwest (western states) 0.83 24.3 71% 

5 Gulf Coast 0.88 1.6 44% 

6 West Coast & Rocky 

Mountain 

0.86 4.1 77% 

National Average 0.84 81 68% 

The average responses over the year and the percent of the target response for each sampling 

region are also shown in Table 2. The very low number of responses from the Gulf Coast and 

West Coast/Rocky Mountain regions points out the particular weakness of the price data from 

those regions. 

4 
Figures 6 and 7 show the volatility in the price ratio over time among the six regions. With the 

exception of the West Coast/Rocky Mountain region, the graphs show the spread tightening 

among the regions toward the end of the period, when the price of gasoline rose to its highest 

levels. The high price ratio volatility for the Gulf Coast and West Coast/Rocky Mountain regions 

is likely related to the low number of responses from those regions. 

Regional E85:Gas Price Ratio

0.70

0.75

0.80

0.85

0.90

0.95

1.00

7/2/20078/2/20079/2/2007

10/2/200711/2/200712/2/2007

1/2/20082/2/20083/2/20084/2/20085/2/20086/2/2008

Central/Lower Atlantic Minnesota

Eastern Midwest Western Midwest

Figure 6. Regional average E85:gasoline price ratios over time 

Regional E85:Gas Price Ratio

0.70

0.75

0.80

0.85

0.90

0.95

1.00

7/2/20078/2/20079/2/2007

10/2/200711/2/200712/2/2007

1/2/20082/2/20083/2/20084/2/20085/2/20086/2/2008

Gulf Coast Minnesota West Coast/Rocky Mtn.

Figure 7. Regional average E85:gasoline price ratios over time 

The appendix contains a table showing the regional price ratios, the national average prices and 

price ratios, and the number of responses over the data collection period. 

5 
6 

Conclusions 

The national survey of E85 and gasoline prices for the period of time between July 2007 and 

June 2008 indicates the following: 

• The price of E85 appears to closely track that of gasoline. 

• The gap between E85 and gasoline appears to widen somewhat as the price of gasoline 

increases beyond about $3 per gallon; i.e., the price of E85 increases more slowly than that of 

gasoline. 

• The E85:gasoline price ratio was always higher than the E85:gasoline energy content ratio, 

signifying a higher per-mile cost for E85 in comparison to that of gasoline. The disparity 

diminished somewhat as the price of gasoline rose above $3 per gallon. 

• Minnesota exhibited the lowest E85:gasoline price ratio, 0.82, and the Central/Lower 

Atlantic Region the highest ratio, 0.90. 

• The average standard deviation for the price of gasoline during the survey period was 

$0.14/gallon; for E85, it was $0.23/gallon. 

References 

1. Energy Information Administration, “U.S. Gasoline Retail Prices – States in each Region,” 

2007, www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/wrgp/padd_page.html. Site 

accessed June 13, 2007. 
Appendix: Summary of Price Ratios, Prices, and Survey Responses over Tim

Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 Wk 17 Wk 18 Wk 19 Wk 20 Wk 21 Wk 

7/2 7/16 7/30 8/13 8/29 9/10 9/24 10/8 10/22 11/5 11/19 12/3 12/17 12/31 1/14 1/28 2/11 2/25 3/10 3/24 4/7 4/2

Region (1) Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ra

1. Central/Lower Atlantic 0.95 0.96 0.93 0.99 0.92 0.94 0.93 0.93 0.91 0.85 0.89 0.89 0.91 0.86 0.88 0.88 0.93 0.90 0.91 0.93 0.92 0.82. Minnesota 0.85 0.86 0.84 0.85 0.82 0.81 0.81 0.84 0.80 0.80 0.79 0.81 0.82 0.81 0.80 0.818 0.81 0.82 0.81 0.83 0.83 0.83. Eastern Midwest 0.90 0.91 0.94 0.91 0.90 0.90 0.86 0.85 0.85 0.80 0.82 0.83 0.86 0.89 0.89 0.879 0.89 0.88 0.85 0.86 0.86 0.84. Western Midwest 0.85 0.83 0.87 0.88 0.83 0.84 0.82 0.85 0.84 0.80 0.80 0.81 0.81 0.80 0.83 0.834 0.85 0.82 0.82 0.82 0.82 0.85. Gulf Coast 0.95 0.89 0.88 0.88 0.95 0.97 0.91 0.89 0.90 0.85 0.90 0.79 0.791 0.83 0.85 0.86 0.90 0.96. West Coast/Rky Mtn. 0.95 0.89 0.82 0.86 0.92 0.91 0.88 0.96 0.86 0.87 0.91 0.91 0.89 0.89 0.84 0.845 0.80 0.79 0.79 0.83 0.88 0.8National Avg Ratio (2) 0.88 0.87 0.88 0.89 0.86 0.86 0.84 0.86 0.84 0.81 0.82 0.84 0.84 0.83 0.83 0.84 0.85 0.84 0.83 0.84 0.85 0.8

Nat. Avg Gas Price (2) 2.98 3.07 2.86 2.74 2.89 2.87 2.80 2.70 2.75 3.07 3.04 2.94 2.88 3.02 2.97 2.90 2.93 3.06 3.20 3.17 3.29 3.4Responses 81 86 75 81 89 85 87 87 87 80 78 79 75 61 62 66 81 76 82 84 86 86 

National Ave. E85 Price(2) 2.62 2.67 2.51 2.43 2.47 2.46 2.36 2.32 2.31 2.50 2.50 2.46 2.42 2.49 2.47 2.45 2.50 2.57 2.66 2.67 2.8 2.9

(1) Based on EIA regions (2) Averages based on all stations reporting both prices nationwide (not average of region averages)

7 
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National Survey of E85 and Gasoline Prices 

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P. Bergeron 

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Study compares the prices of E85 and regular gasoline nationally and regionally over time for one year. The United 

States was divided into six sampling regions based on the seven Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts 

defined by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) and used in EIA’s gasoline price reports. A sampling plan of 

the approximately 1,200 E85 stations that were operating nationwide at the time was devised to allow statistically 

significant regional and temporal comparisons of the data to be made within the limited data collection budget 

available. 

15. SUBJECT TERMS

Clean Cities; E85; ethanol; flexible fuel vehicles; FFVs; alternative fuel vehicles; AFVs; fuel prices 

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