The Renewable Fuels Association recently announced that it has acquired E85prices.com, which is a crowdsourced website that offers updated prices for E85 and other ethanol flex-fuels including E15—from thousands of stations across the country. In addition to E85prices.com, RFA acquired 11 new websites and a new mobile app to strengthen its online presence and its ability to provide up-to-the-minute information on the availability and pricing of E85 and other ethanol flex-fuels.

E85prices.com and E85vehicles.com are the most visited of the 12 new sites now owned by RFA, with E85prices.com receiving approximately 4 million hits last year. E85prices.com has been a go-to source for consumers seeking E85 pricing information to help make informed fuel purchase decisions. The website also maintains a station locator, a database of all existing E85 stations and blender pump locations, and an online forum. Meanwhile, E85vehicles.com helps consumers locate or identify a flex-fuel vehicle (FFV).

Robert White, vice president of industry relations at the RFA, touted the sites, noting, “As the renewable rule standard (RFS) continues to be discussed in Congress, and the 2014–2016 RFS requirements remain under consideration at Environmental Protection Agency, we believe it is more important than ever to provide concrete information to decision-makers about E85, E15, and other flex-fuels. At the same time, consumers are looking for more information on renewable fuels, and these websites have provided that service to millions of unique visitors each year. The RFA intends to further strengthen the usefulness and reliability of these websites and ensure the appropriate resources are dedicated to advance all of them into the future.”

In July of 2014, RFA cited E85prices.com when it called on the U.S. Department of Energy to update their Alternative Fuels Data Center database, which was missing nearly 1,000 stations. RFA will continue its efforts to ensure all station databases reflect the real world, and will work with DOE to fix the current discrepancies in their database.

The information on E85prices.com is crowdsourced, but RFA will confirm all station locations and ensure they are offering higher-level fuel blends.