US state governments buying flex-fuel cars to avoid using…alternative fuels; exploiting loophole in federal law that requires alt energy vehicles, but not alt energy fuels

Using a loophole in federal law, states are buying flex-fuel cars in order to avoid using alternative fuels.

More than 2,200 cars and light trucks have been purchased by the New Jersey state government to fulfill requirements from the 1992 Energy Policy Act, but the state has not provided any government-only or retail E85 pumps anywhere in the state.

The Maryland state government also recently unveiled a plan to increase purchases of hybrid and flex-fuel vehicles. Under the plan, 40% of state vehicle purchases will be flexfuel cars and trucks that run on biofuels, and to increase hybrids from 30 to 100 vehicles. The state has a 9100 vehicle fleet. E85 is not available in Maryland.
Under the Act, federal law mandated that 75 percent of new state vehicles must be able to run on alternative fuels, but the Act does not require states to purchase or use alternative fuels. Consequently, governments have been buying flex-fuel vehicles that qualify under the Act, but 30 states do not provide E85 at any state fuel depots.

In total, there are only 34 state fuel depots in 20 states, yet governments have purchased more than 40,000 flex-fuel vehicles.

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