An E85 conversion kit enables a gasoline-powered internal combustion engine to operate on either E85 or gasoline, effectively turning it into a flex fuel vehicle (FFV).
Why choose E85? In California, the answer is obvious: high gas prices. The state regularly experiences gasoline price surges that push costs above $5 – or even $6 – per gallon. Using an E85 conversion kit allows you to select a more affordable fuel when gas prices skyrocket.
In June 2022, when California gas prices reached a record-high at $6.29/gal, Californians could’ve saved $2.24/gal by filling with E85. Instead of paying $5.52/gal for gasoline in September 2023, drivers could’ve used E85 and saved $2.05/gal. During February 2025’s gasoline price spike resulting from a large fire at the PBF Energy refinery in Martinez, consumers were forced to pay $4.59/gal for gasoline — while the average price for E85 in the Pearson Fuels station network that month was $3.07/gal.
For environmentally-conscious consumers, choosing E85 means using a renewable fuel rather than a fossil fuel. E85 is 85% ethanol and 15% hydrocarbon. In the Pearson Fuels system, that hydrocarbon is increasingly becoming renewable naphtha rather than fossil gasoline. E85 also burns cleaner and has fewer emissions than gasoline, resulting in cleaner air.
E85’s availability is spreading in California with more than 500 retail locations. Finding stations is easy: download the Pearson Fuels mobile app to see if E85 is near you and look for the yellow hose/gas pump at any gas station.
Converting a fraction of the state’s 27 million vehicles to run on renewable E85 would immediately decarbonize the on-road fleet by offering lifecycle GHG emission reductions up to 80% compared to gasoline. If California is able to maintain a constant population of FFVs that refill with E85, analysis indicates the state could save $461 million annually by 2035. Conversion kits are the clear answer to the problem of rising and volatile gas prices.
