Nearly half of car buyers surveyed in May 2006 by Cars.com said they didn't know enough about alternative fuels like ethanol to consider flex-fuel vehicles for purchase.
"My hunch is there hasn't been a whole lot of change" since then, Cars.com spokesman Steve Nolan said.
Local car buyers have grown more aware of flex-fuel vehicles, but many haven't gone beyond the tire-kicking stage, local auto dealers said.
There are about 6 million E85 compatible vehicles on American roads, according to the
National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, an advocate for E85 use. That accounts for about 3 percent of vehicles.
"We do have customers looking for flex-fuel vehicles," said Rob Henderson, sales manager at Arnell Chevrolet in Burns Harbor.
"In the last two years, I'd say general awareness is up about 50 percent," said Henderson, whose showroom stocks Silverados, Impalas and other flex-fuel models.
"There's definitely more interest in it," said Mike Dunn, sales manager with Schepel Buick GMC in Merrillville, which stocks Yukons and GM trucks equipped to handle ethanol blends of up to 85 percent.
A selling point for flex-fuel cars is using renewable fuel as a way to reduce consumption of petroleum, decreasing the nation's dependence on foreign oil.
Being here in the Midwest, customers are more aware of how farmers can benefit from the need for corn for ethanol, Henderson said.
But a stumbling block for car buyers is concern over the availability of the 85 percent ethanol, 15-percent petroleum blend, Dunn said.
The gasoline sold at most U.S. filling stations contains a blend of up to 10 percent ethanol, and nearly half of all gasoline in the U.S. is blended with ethanol, according to the
American Petroleum Institute.
But until E85 becomes more widely available, " it's not going to be a real player," Dunn said.
Gary Roberson, sales manager at Christensen Chevrolet in Highland, said he stresses E85's environmentally friendly qualities when promoting the showroom's flex-fuel Impalas and other cars.
The blend's high oxygen content makes it burn cleaner than gasoline, according to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition.
Consumer awareness is growing, Roberson said, "and the sales people are more familiar with it now.
"But there are not enough gas stations selling it," he said. "That's what's killing us."