The Super Sprit E10 is unpopular, but cheap. For fear of damage, only a few tank it. What if you mixed both types of fuel instead?
The abbreviation E10 stands for a petrol that was introduced at German petrol stations in January 2011. It can contain up to ten percent bioethanol. Bioethanol is alcohol. It is produced by fermentation and distillation from renewable raw materials such as grain and sugar beet – i.e. biofuel.
Many drivers still avoid this fuel out of concern about damage to the engine – even though it is about six cents per liter cheaper than normal premium petrol (also known as E5 or Eurosuper).
But if you don’t want to fill up with pure E10 – can you then mix it with E5 and thus keep the proportion of biofuel in the tank lower?
Is mixing a problem?
Modern petrol engines tolerate both types of fuel – i.e. E5 and E10 – without any problem. You can therefore refuel the car with both types. And since you should never run the tank empty, a mixture is created anyway – with a bioethanol content somewhere between five and ten percent. That’s why you can refill half E5 and half E10 at every fuel stop.
However: Filling up with E5 once and then E10 the next time and so on is not advisable – the engine might then not deliver its best performance. Even then, you don’t have to worry about damage.
Who is allowed to fill up with E10?
In principle, all petrol engines can be refueled with E10 if they have received approval from the manufacturer. Information on this can be found on the manufacturer’s website, but also at car workshops or car dealers.
Simple rule of thumb: If your car was built in 2012 or later, it can definitely handle E10.
Without this approval for E10 you should of course do without it. Otherwise there could be damage to various components – after just one refueling.
When does it pay to fill up with E10?
Because E10 contains more biofuel than E5, it is more environmentally friendly, but it also has a slightly lower calorific value: a little more petrol has to be burned for the same engine performance. But: Even with a price difference of just three cents per liter, the slight additional consumption is worth it.
Mixing E5 and E10 actually saves money – but less than if you filled up with pure E10. The manufacturers guarantee that the engine of a newer petrol engine will not suffer as a result.
