Ethanol fuel stations, commonplace in Brazil where the AutoFFV was designed, are popping up all across the United States. Small mom-and-pop fuel station owners and large suppliers are opting to replace their mid-grade gasoline with E85. The appeal of the fuel in the U.S. stems from a desire to move away from dependence on the Middle East as well as the fuel's inherently clean burning characteristics.

Until recently, the renewable fuel was useful only to those owning a factory-built flex-fuel vehicle. However, these vehicles are few in number, as availability has been limited primarily to fleets and municipalities. But the AutoFFV lets almost any car or truck owner choose between E85, gasoline or any blend of the two.

"Our system is unique because we have the only system that can convert a standard vehicle into a flex-fuel vehicle while simultaneously protecting the engine from the acids that can form when burning E85," said Vidar Lura, president of Abcesso Technology.

The AutoFFV was designed to help consumers take advantage of the wide availability of ethanol fuels. Ethanol has been available at the fuel pump in Brazil for 30 years. The AutoFFV kit, as sold in the United States, includes a controller unit, which installs easily in most modern vehicles with no modifications, and engine protection chemicals, which permanently plate internal engine parts to protect them from wear and oxidation.

The AutoFFV carries a warranty that covers not only the box itself, but also the vehicle's engine.

AutoFFV conversion technology was developed by Letande Ind.in Brazil, a company that was recently acquired by Abcesso Technology. While several other companies have attempted to reverse engineer the technology, the reverse-engineered products have been found to cause performance problems and even damage engines.

So, what is ethanol? Ethanol is ethyl alcohol which needs to be 100% pure. Ethanol is the highest performance fuel on the market and keeps today's high-compression engines running smoothly. Ethanol-blended fuel (such as e85) keeps your fuel system clean, cause it does not leave gummy exhausts.

And because ethanol burns cleaner, it produces fewer emissions. Today, all ethanol cars manufacturers approve the use of ethanol blended fuels and even recommend to use ethanol for its positive environmental impacts.

The use of an ethanol will allow to increase the performance of ethanol cars in general. Initial tests showed that ethanol may also extend from 20 to 80% the engine's maintenance. The conversion of existing engines is not only feasible, but also cost effective.

One of the most convenient ethanol-gasoline mixtures is called e85 and consists of 85% ethanol to 15% gasoline. Ethanol fueled cars are specially designed to run well as on the mixture of ethanol to gas as on alcohol fuel, moreover, they are able to detect the specific ratio of ethanol to gas and adjust themselves accordingly to run as efficiently as possible. Ethanol cars that run on ethanol can also run on regular gas, too, that's how flexible they really are!