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E10 Fuel – What Is It?

The easiest way to understand E10 fuel is to understand the current E5 fuel in the UK. E5 is not 100% petrol but rather it has 5% bioethanol in its formula. This reduces the carbon emission from the fuel. So as you’ve probably guess, E10 fuel contains 10% bioethanol. This is done in an attempt to “Slow down climate change” according the Mirror. The idea is to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions from cars.

E10 Only Affects Petrol Cars

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For now if you drive a diesel car your unaffected, only petrol cars will be required to use the E10 fuel. This means Hybrid and Electric vehicles won’t be using this fuel either. So how many people will this affect? Approximately 33 million cars exist in the UK, with around 19 million to be assumed petrol fuel cars. Then you can also include the 1.2 million motorbikes which almost all run on petrol. It’s important to know that the UK will roll out its new fuel on September 1st this year (2021).

The Risk?

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The risks are that the new fuel could cause damage to your vehicle and its engine. To make matters worse, insurance companies around the UK have already made it plenty clear that they will NOT be covering any damages caused by using the new fuel. According to a survey with no sources, around 50% of insurance providers have spoken out saying they will not cover damaged caused by E10 fuel. There is already an estimate of 150,000 cases of people refuelling with the wrong fuel type in the UK alone, without the E10 fuel.

How To Check If You Can Use E10?

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Some cars can use E10 occasionally, but frequent refuelling may cause damage, in this case it is currently advised to use premium 98 fuel instead. Statements we found about the issue had this to say:

All cars and motorbikes built since 2011 are compatible with E10, as are most from the late 1990s, but the government has warned that around 5% of vehicles are not.

That leaves an approximate 1 million cars who can’t use the new fuel. At the bottom of the page we have included a government link so you can check your cars compatibility, as well as another statement on the compatibility of the fuel:

“DfT and its partners will not be liable for any damage to your vehicle as a result of you using this service.

“It’s your responsibility to make sure you use the right fuel for your vehicle.”

For example, all Ford cars sold in Europe since 1992 are fine with E10, bar the Ford Mondeo 1.8 SCI from 2003 to 2007.

Pre-January 2000 Citroens and Nissans cannot use E10 regularly.

All Renaults sold since January 1 1997 can use E10, except certain models.

These include the Megane 1 with 2.0 litre F5R direct injection petrol engine, sold between 1999 and 2003.

All Harley-Davidsons sold since 1980 can use the new fuel with no problems.

See If Your Car Can Run E10 Fuel

Exercise Caution

The best way to prevent damage is to be safe. Do all the checks. Start with small quantities. Compare performance. Have your car serviced. Be sure about your research. Once you are certain about your engines compatibility with the new E10 fuel then make the switch. Bear in mind you may not have much choice and as a result you might have to act fast to ensure your cars compatibility with the new fuel roll out. Now that you are aware of the change in fuel you can avoid potential disasters and not accidentally destroy your car.