[Tazio Nuvolari]

All gasoline including premium sold in Canada is mandated to contain up to 15% ethanol.

The owners manual is right: regular gas and no more than 15% Ethanol.

The issue with E10 or E15 gas is that ethanol will suck up moisture from the atmospheric air in the fuel tank. It then can form a jelly like substance that can coat and clog fuel injectors and pumps. This does NOT happen immediately. It usually takes months. This isn't a big issue for gas model owners because with our lower MPGs we must fill up more frequently. In the RAV hybrids and especially the plug-in Prime it becomes an issue if you don't drive frequently. If you only get a fill up with fresh gas every couple of months you may develop an issue. There are prior threads about ethanol gas...use the search bar. Some Prime owners were using NO ethanol high octane Premium you can get in some areas for boats, chainsaws, lawn equipment, etc. In my gas model I stick in a bottle of Techron fuel system cleaner once a year and let that tank run down low and refill it before an oil& filter change. I drive only 5K miles a year.

 

[Tazio Nuvolari]

e10 and e15 is not hygroscopic, it does NOT pull water from the air.
e10 and e15 are hydrophilic. it can hold water....in a automobile
this would be water condensation from the walls of the tank

You say potatoe and I say potahto--like in the Cole Porter song. It works out to the same thing in a car. Ethanol gets moisture and turns to jelly.

on older vehicles rubber and plastics used fuel pumps and lines and components
were not resistive to the corrosive effect of ethanol. modern vehicles are made
from better plastics and rubbers.

Maybe so, but the gunk caused by moisture contaminated ethanol can still clog fuel injector orifices.