ATLANTA — A cheaper brand of gasoline will be available through the summer, but there aren’t many stations selling it in Georgia.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced that the EPA would lift restrictions that typically prevent the sale of E15 gasoline during the summer. The move is in response to the nation’s struggle over high gas prices.
E15, which can be burned in vehicles made since 2001, is typically 10-cents a gallon cheaper than regular unleaded.
Yet, the issue in Atlanta is where to find it.
According to E85prices.com, a site that tracks the cost and availability of alternative fuel, there are 10 gas stations selling E15 in Georgia. Seven of them are in metro Atlanta.
At one of those stations on South Cobb Drive, customer Daniel Faulk pays $3.69 a gallon for regular unleaded. He doesn’t even notice the button to select E15 for $3.59.
“I used to work at a gas station and I’ve never seen E15 before,” he told 11Alive. “It’s cheaper than literally all of them (other brands of gas). Of all the gas stations around my house, this is the first one I’ve seen it at.”
President Biden’s decision to allow the sale of the cheaper E15 gasoline throughout the summer could make more drivers aware of its existence.
Most of the gasoline we buy is 10% ethanol. But E15 has slightly more, up to 15%, and typically isn’t sold during the busy summer travel season out of concerns that it adds to smog.
According to the Department of Energy, there are 2,300 stations in 30 states selling E15.
Daniel Faulk found one of them. He has a newer model truck that can burn it, but he’s not sold. He wants to know more about E15, adding he wants to make sure he doesn't mess up his engine.
Like many others, he is learning on the go.