A new grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture will be used to increase flex fuel vehicle (FFV) awareness.

The project will concentrate on six states.  Three of them are ethanol producing states—Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas.  The other three are key ethanol markets—Maryland, Georgia and Florida. 

Nebraska Ethanol Board administrator Todd Sneller says the project will create a “virtual pipeline” of information between the two groups of states.

“To gather the best practices that have been used for flex fuel vehicle awareness and ethanol marketing strategies in Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas—and deploy a number of those best practices in areas where there’s a greater concentration of flex fuel vehicles, including Maryland, Georgia and Florida,” Sneller says.

Sneller says one key element of the project will be working with state motor vehicle departments to inform drivers that they may already have a flex fuel vehicle.

“Somewhere between about 65 and 90 percent of the owners and operators of flex fuel vehicles are not aware of the fact they’re driving a flex fuel vehicle that gives the driver the choice of fuels including higher ethanol blends,” he says.

Sneller says the campaign will also help educate drivers on ethanol’s performance and emissions, and advantages it provides over gasoline and imported oil.

AUDIO: Todd Sneller (6:34 MP3)