Ethanol dilemma

This new-fangled E10 petrol malarkey was sprung on me on Wednesday.

The government website has information about E10. It says that ‘classic, cherished and older vehicles’ might not be compatible. Henry is certainly cherished. It says that ‘some models, particularly those from the early 2000s’, might not be compatible. Henry was registered in 2000.

The government’s E10 checking service says that all Peugeot cars from 1 January 2000 are compatible with E10. Henry’s registration letter covers part of 1999 as well as 2000, so I was none the wiser.

I’d filled up the other week with my usual unleaded, so I didn’t need any more when I went up north on Friday. I let future-me worry about it.

Future-me was not happy this afternoon. I’d forgotten all about it till I saw the pumps at the petrol station: diesel or E10 only. I dithered, then parked Henry off to one side.

I looked at the government website again. It said if you still weren’t sure, you can find out by other means. It said look in the vehicle owner’s manual. I looked in the vehicle owner’s manual. It said ‘unleaded’. The website said to look under the filler flap. Henry doesn’t have a filler flap; he has a filler cap. I looked under the filler cap, then I got a cloth, wiped the crud away, and looked again. There was a label that said ‘Pb’ (i.e. unleaded). The website said to ask the car manufacturer.

I looked at Peugeot’s website. They didn’t have anything obvious about new-fangled petrol. I found a phone number for their customer service and rang it. It took a while to get through the recorded announcements and menus to a human being.

The human being took all the details he possibly could, and discovered that Henry wasn’t on the list. He said he’d have to go and rummage through some boxes.

As I listened to the hold music, I wondered if I had enough petrol to last till I found a garage that sold E5. What if my local supermarkets/garages didn’t sell E5? What would happen to Henry? Would I have to scrap him? How expensive would it be to convert him—

The human being came back on the line. He told me my car is compatible with E10.

Oh, Henry. You are a modern car after all.

I hung up and drove back to the petrol pumps and filled up with E10. I went in the shop to pay, then looked out the window to see what number pump it was, but the view was blocked, so I went outside to see what number pump it was, then went back in to pay.

I set off southerlywards with my tunes banging. Henry loved his new petrol. Brum brum, he went. Brum brum!