E10 petrol: Government urges you to know your fuel

The Government is urging all road users to Know Your Fuel ahead of Summer 2021 E10 petrol rollout.

This summer will see the standard petrol grade in the UK changing to E10 petrol. The move is to reduce carbon emissions, with the new 90 percent petrol 10 percent ethanol blend being touted as capable of reducing carbon output by as much as 750,000 tonnes a year.

That amount is equivalent to removing around 350,000 cars from the roads, although as with any big change like this, there could be some drawbacks.
Ethanol in high concentrations can have detrimental effects on hoses, seals, and fibreglass parts. The risk is especially bad for older, retro, classic, and vintage motorcycles. MPG could also be marginally affected by the E10 blend, with studies suggesting that ethanol has around 34 percent lower energy per unit volume ratio than petrol.

To help road users select the best fuel for their vehicle, the government has launched an awareness campaign and also a tool to check if your vehicle is compatible with the new low emissions fuel.

To check if your bike, car, or moped is compatible, you need to know the make, model, year of manufacture and engine capacity. If your bike has had a new engine, you’ll need to source the year that was manufactured and go by that instead of the registration year.

To check your vehicle’s compatibility with E10 fuel, head to: www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-e10-petrol