The E10 debate rages on. Last month we revealed in the Private Fleet Newsletter article that standard unleaded petrol is to be withdrawn from sale in NSW. It now seems likely that other States will soon follow suit.
Clearly this has hit the motorists’ nerve as we have received an unprecedented response from our readers.

Jim L. from Victoria wrote to the Office of Biofuels in NSW as follows:-

“Just thought you might like to know that my wife & I (who generally take short holidays 3 – 4 times a year) are fortunate enough to run a dual-fuelled car (unleaded and LPG). This means that we will not need to stop in NSW for fuel as we can fill up here in Victoria, and then re-fuel in Queensland. The idea of phasing out 91 RON unleaded is absolutely crazy as far as ‘grey nomads’ like us are concerned. Most of us drive older cars which should NEVER be filled with an ethanol-blended fuel, and we cannot afford the huge difference in price to switch to premium unleaded. NSW businesses (and by natural extension through lower tax incomes) the NSW government will be the big losers. We’ll give you a wave as we pass through.”

He received a standard reply from the Biofuels Office which you can read here.

SS from the Blue Mountains received a similar reply, and he then took them to task on a number of their statements and the argument rages on!
Stephen B. also complained that unleaded petrol has been withdrawn from the ACT too, but without any legislation being passed by the ACT Government.
The Federal Chamber Of Automotive Industries were alerted to our newsletter article – their response?

“ Keep up the good work!”

The Service Stations Association also says that the service station owners are ‘not happy’ for these two crucial reasons:-

“Firstly it’s going to cost a lot of money to convert existing tanks from unleaded to E10, and secondly they do not see why choice should be denied to the motorists who indeed preferred to buy unleaded at 3c a litre more than the less popular E10.”

We need your help..

Clearly we cannot let this matter rest as too many motorists will suffer from the elimination of standard unleaded.
But we need your help.
This unprecedented reaction has prompted us to prepare a quick one minute survey to question motorists’ awareness and feelings towards this impending legislation.

Here’s what we’d like you to do.

We’ve asked our new customers a few questions, and it’s clear that the vast majority are simply unaware of this issue.
So we want you to cast your mind back to before you read the article and respond to our quick questionnaire here.
We’ll collate all the results and report back to you in our next newsletter.