Argonne National Laboratory has completed three full years of operation of 19 vehicles in the Federal Methanol Fleet Project; ten of the vehicles are fueled with M85 (85% methanol, 15% unleaded gasoline). Nearly 675,000 miles have been accumulated on the fleet vehicle so far, and comparisons of energy efficiency continue to show nearly equal performance between the methanol and gasoline vehicles. Emissions tests have revealed evidence of degradation of emission control systems for both the methanol and gasoline vehicles. Methanol vehicles continued to require more maintenance than the gasoline vehicles, and maintenance labor intensity (hours per 1000 miles) increased for all the vehicle types being monitored. Metal accumulation rates in lubricating oil of the methanol vehicles continued to be elevated compared to that of the gasoline vehicles. Driver satisfaction in the third year appeared to be about the same as the second year, with the gasoline vehicles generally being rated slightly higher than the methanol vehicles. 13 refs., 21 figs., 10 tabs.


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    Title :

    Results from the third year of operation of the Federal Methanol Fleet at Argonne National Laboratory


    Contributors:
    B. H. West (author) / R. N. McGill (author) / S. L. Hillis (author) / J. W. Hodgson (author)

    Publication date :

    1991


    Size :

    78 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English