Fuel choice comes to Coachella Valley: Fill up and you might win $50!
E85 ethanol blend is sweeping through California, and not a moment too soon. Drivers have had a choice of the cheaper, cleaner-burning alternative to gasoline in dozens of cities around the state, and now it’s available in the Coachella Valley for the first time.
The Chevron station at 13900 Palm Drive in Desert Hot Springs (at the corner of 2 Bunch Palms Trail) is offering E85 for only 85 cents a gallon for one day only: Wednesday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Drivers of flex-fuel vehicles, which are built to run on E85, have a special incentive to fill up: They can be eligible for a $50 Amazon gift card we’ll be giving away. All you have to do is snap a photo of yourself at the E85 dispenser and post it to Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Be sure to use the hashtag #flexfuel4all.
(Here’s an inside tip: The contest has already started, and you don’t even need to be at that particular station. We’re opening up this contest to everyone in the country who uses E85! For a station locator, visit our Fuels 101 page. You can also use this tool to find out whether your vehicle is flex-fuel.)
The Desert Hot Springs station is owned by G&M Oil of Huntington Beach, California. The chain has partnered with fuel supplier Pearson Fuels of San Diego to put in a string of E85 dispensers around California over the next year or so. (Check the Pearson site to see a list of stations that sell E85, and others that soon will.) At Pearson’s last 85-cent promotion, in August in the Sacramento area, drivers waited in line for up to 2 hours to fill up on American-made E85.
Turns out, consumers are demanding E85, mainly for the attractive price point. Even after the 85-cent promotion ends, customers might find themselves coming back for more, because E85 is significantly cheaper even on a normal day. Pearson says E85 at the Desert Hot Springs location was $2.49 a gallon on Tuesday, compared with regular 87-octane (E10 blend) at $2.89 when paying cash, and $2.99 with credit.
So buy E85 on Wednesday! No matter what happens, you’re a winner.
Related posts:
- Pearson’s CA expansion proves there’s demand for E85
- Are the major oil companies rigging the free market?
- Petro Serve’s secret to success: giving customers fuel choice
- Over hill and dale: How to find new flex-fuel vehicles
- Hydrogen is the future, but FFVs are ready now
