Holiday Experimenting With Its Ethanol Pricing

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Holiday Stationstores launched a fuel promotion intended to determine at what price point flex-fuel customers are willing to fill up their vehicles with E85.

According to WCCO, the convenience store chain is conducting a 60-day study at 11 of its Minneapolis-area locations by offering discounts of 80 cents, $1 and $1.20 compared to traditional petroleum prices. Although E85 is purported to have a fuel mileage disadvantage compared to gasoline, Holiday Stationstores is attempting to determine what price point makes up for the alleged disadvantage.

E85 is a fuel blend that contains 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

Consumers who have discovered the new E85 pricing promotion -- which is clearly advertised on electronic billboards at some participating stations -- are pleased, the news source reported. For example, yesterday, consumer Kathy Lindquist filled up her flex-fuel vehicle for $2.35 per gallon, a 34-percent difference compared to the same location's regular unleaded price.

"I'm excited," Lindquist told the news outlet. "I'm telling everybody."

More than 3 percent of vehicles on U.S. roads today are designed to run on E85.

Bloomington, Minn.-based Holiday Stationstores operates approximately 875 convenience stores.