Is E10 Fuel Good For My Car?

E10 fuel is often the cheapest option at the petrol station. But what makes it so cheap, and is it good for your car?

E10 fuel was introduced around 10 years ago, to decrease Queensland’s reliance on non-renewable energies, so we’re actually one of the newest countries to adopt the biofuel blend with countries like the US, Canada, Brazil and China all using ethanol-blended fuels.

What is E10 Fuel?

Most cars made from the year 2000 are engineered to run on ethanol-blended fuels. In addition to being a renewable resource, ethanol based fuels are about three to five cents cheaper at the pump, which may save you in your weekly fuel stop.

If your car runs an Octane Rating of 91 (most petrol cars use this), then E10 fuel is interchangeable with your regular petrol. Cars that use premium fuels (with an octane rating of 95 or 98) are better off with that running through their engines, as they’re tuned to require high efficiencies from the fuel system.

Is Premium Unleaded Better for My Car?

Many people think that the added cost of premium fuels, or the fact that many higher end and performance cars require it, means that it’s inherently better than regular unleaded fuel.

This isn’t necessarily the case, and in any event, the performance benefits will be negligible compared to the extra cost of filling up with premium unleaded if your car doesn’t require it.

Can I Mix E10 and Regular Unleaded?

Unlike mixing patrol and diesel, refuelling between E10, regular or premium unleaded is perfectly fine and won't cause any damage to the fuel system or engine. This is because all unleaded petrol variants are the essentially the same fuel just differentiated with various additives (like in the case of ethanal in E10) or have undergone varying levels of refinement.

Where is My Nearest E10 Petrol Station?

Queensland made E10 fuel mandatory in larger petrol stations across all their sites, so Shell, Caltex, BP and even places like Matilda, Puma and some independent petrol stations are required to have E10 at the pumps.

If you cross the border into NSW, you’ll find more petrol stations selling E10 due to a law passed that set targets for fuel sales that effectively removed regular unleaded pumps from some petrol stations.

If you'd like to learn more about E10 fuels, you can find more information on the Queensland Government’s website.