E10 Petrol - what is it?

During September 2021, the standard grade (95 octane) unleaded petrol, became E10. In Northern Ireland, this is changing in 2022.The change won’t affect diesel vehicles. E10 petrol is already widely used in many parts of the world, including Europe, the United States, and Australia. Since 2016, it has also served as the benchmark by which new cars' emissions and performance are measured.

Why has E10 come into effect?

In short, this has come into effect to increase clean air and decrease CO2 emissions as part of the government's initiative to reduce greenhouse gasses.E10 has an ethanol mix of 10%, compared to what used to be available, E5, which has 5% ethanol mix. The new E10 Fuel is made from a mix of sustainable materials including low-grade grains, sugars and waste wood, combined with petrol, making it more eco friendly.Allowing emissions to be cut and fulfil climate change commitments. It's said to be the equivalent of removing 350,000 vehicles from the road.

The potential headaches involved with E10 petrol

Vehicle Compatibility

There are concerns for drivers who own and drive older vehicles that may not be compatible. It is said that approximately 95% of vehicles are compatible with E10 fuel, however vehicles dated before 2002 aren’t compatible and could become damaged in the long term from using it. All vehicles manufactured from 2011 onwards will be compatible.If your vehicle was manufactured between 2002 and 2011, it is worth investigating to ensure that there will be no problems; there have been reports of specific types of engines being unable to run E10.

It’s safest to check if your vehicle can run on E10 petrol by using the government's free vehicle checker, which covers cars, motorcycles and mopeds.

Any vehicle not listed should continue to use E5 petrol (97 Octane), which will remain available as ‘super grade.’

If you put E10 in an incompatible vehicle by accident, you won’t need to drain the tank and you simply need to fill up with E5 next time, or when the tank goes down to around ½ or ?. One a one time basis, this won’t cause any damage, it will still run, but the corrosive qualities of ethanol may cause damage to seals, plastics, and metals over time.

Fuel Economy

Another headache for many people is they’re noticing the fuel is less efficient and they are paying more. This is said to be because the fuel contains more ethanol.

Referencing the gov.uk website, they state ‘Using E10 petrol can slightly reduce fuel economy (the number of miles you are able to drive on a gallon of fuel). You may see a reduction of around 1%, but it is unlikely to be noticeable in everyday driving.’

Can you still get E5?

For those who drive older vehicles, not to worry, E5 is still available at most larger forecourts. The gov.uk website states that ‘Petrol stations that offer 2 grades of petrol will stock E10 (95 octane) and E5 (97+ octane) petrol.’

However, it will be slightly more expensive, with it likely costing 10-12p per litre more than E10.

According to The Petrol Retailers Association “E5 will still be available in five years time, but only as the protection grade in 'super'. It will be reviewed in five years time.”

If you own an older petrol vehicle and are concerned that it may not be E10 compatible, we recommend contacting the manufacturer for confirmation or using the government's online E10 fuel checker tool.

What are the benefits of E10?

The overall goal of introducing E10 petrol is to reduce CO2 emissions. Being that ethanol is created from plants, this helps absorb more carbon dioxide than is released into the air during fuel generation and combustion, resulting in helping towards the reduced emissions target.

In addition to this, all new cars have been certified for emissions and performance using E10 fuel since 2016, so when you bought a car and were told how many miles per gallon it would get, that number was already predicated on using this new fuel.

To summarise, the implementation of E10 fuel is a step forward in lowering CO2 emissions created by millions of vehicles on our roads. The growth of electric is already helping, and although this is only a little modification, it is hoped that it will result in a visible difference in the environmental impact and assist us in moving towards a greener future.