I noticed that mistake too, but think it is fully explainable if you have an open mind and know that we all make dumb mistakes from time to time.
Let's assume he slipped the decimal point on the 17 gallons of regular gas and really meant 1.7 instead. Now divide the 1.7 by 15% (% of regular gas in E85). The answer is 11.33 gallons of E85, which is what he says he bought. This thinking also reduces his "fillup" to 13.03 gallons, which is very reasonable.
What he would get from this mixture is not E85, however. If you called it anything, it would have to be E72.25 (85% times 85% 72.25%).
Having made my share of math errors as an engineer first and later a CPA, I found most were from not watching the simple things. So, when I see someone's math errors, my first inclination is to look and see what simple thing they might have overlooked.
Posted on August 3 at 2:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I noticed that mistake too, but think it is fully explainable if you have an open mind and know that we all make dumb mistakes from time to time.
Let's assume he slipped the decimal point on the 17 gallons of regular gas and really meant 1.7 instead. Now divide the 1.7 by 15% (% of regular gas in E85). The answer is 11.33 gallons of E85, which is what he says he bought. This thinking also reduces his "fillup" to 13.03 gallons, which is very reasonable.
What he would get from this mixture is not E85, however. If you called it anything, it would have to be E72.25 (85% times 85% 72.25%).
Having made my share of math errors as an engineer first and later a CPA, I found most were from not watching the simple things. So, when I see someone's math errors, my first inclination is to look and see what simple thing they might have overlooked.
On Drivers increase use of E85 fuel