Kroger Expands E85 Fuel, Adds Brand

WENDY TOTH

CINCINNATI — Kroger Co. here added 20 alternate fueling stations to its network of gas stations in Ohio and Kentucky late last month where it is selling a branded blend of E85 fuel, called VE85, from VeraSun Energy, Brookings, S.D.

The blend contains 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline as an option for owners of flexible fuel vehicles, which are able to run on this cleaner-burning, corn-based mixture.

“As the number of Flexible Fuel Vehicles continues to increase, partnering with VeraSun allows us to offer our customers convenient fueling options,” Kroger spokeswoman Meghan Glynn told SN.

Ohio has one of the highest densities of flexible fuel vehicles with over 200,000 on the road, according to a June report from the Center for American Progress in Washington. However at the time of the report, only 39 E85 fuel stations were available in the state.

Kentucky was listed as having over 56,000 of the vehicles and only three E85 stations.

Kroger also offers E85 in Texas through fuel provider Abengoa Bioenergy, Chesterfield, Mo. Texas is reported to have the most flexible fuel vehicles of any U.S. state — over 415,000 — with 31 E85 stations.

Currently, there are more than 4.4 million flex-fuel [dual fuel] vehicles on the road, and 1,133 publicly accessible E85 fuel stations, the Center for American Progress reported. Thirteen states, plus the District of Columbia, have no E85 stations.

“Sustainability is becoming an important factor in retailer decisions and many are attempting to differentiate by doing good for the environment,” said Jon Hauptman, partner, consultant Willard Bishop, Barrington, Ill. “Kroger's expansion of its ethanol offering fits very nicely into a sustainability strategy.”

Kroger and VeraSun are joined by a third partner, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, St. Louis, which will designate four Ohio rental locations as VE85/FlexFuel branches, making a quarter of every branch's rental fleet General Motors flexible fuel vehicles.

Enterprise will fill the cars with VE85 from nearby Kroger locations, and will provide maps to Kroger's Ohio VE85 fueling locations inside each automobile.