Pearson Fuels of San Diego, CA and G&M Oil Company of Huntington Beach, CA will hold a grand opening of their newest E85 Flex Fuel location on April 15 at 499 Sandalwood Drive, Calimesa, CA. There will be a ribbon cutting at 9:30 a.m. with alternative fuel experts on site. Immediately following the ribbon cutting and continuing until 6:00 p.m., the station will be selling E85 Flex Fuel to the public for only 85 cents per gallon, along with a variety of in-store specials available throughout the day.
The event is intended to kickoff the announcement of 13 E85 site openings built through a collaboration between Pearson Fuels and G&M Oil. The stations will all be located in Southern California in San Bernardino, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties. Details and addresses of each site can be found on Pearson Fuels’ website at www.pearsonfuels.com.
There are approximately 1 million vehicles on the road in California that are capable of using blends of ethanol as high as 85 percent. These vehicles are referred to as Flex Fuel vehicles and can be identified by a “Flex Fuel” nameplate on the car or by labels in the gas filler area. Many of these vehicles also have yellow gas caps for easy identification.
In the United States, the ethanol used in E85 continues to be produced primarily from corn. However, there have been major technological improvements that have contributed to more advanced production plants and a more advanced fuel made from agricultural waste products and other non-food sources are coming on line soon.
Pearson Fuels General Manager, Mike Lewis states, “We are very proud to make this announcement. We have been opening these E85 sites one and two at a time for years but it is a whole new level to declare our plans to open 13 sites in 13 months. The alternative fuel industry is no stranger to outlandish claims of what people are going to do which so often do not come to pass. That is why we thought long and hard about making this announcement because we take great pride in being a group that does what we say we are going to do.
“This confidence comes in no small part due to the partner we have with G&M Oil Company. Their story of growing from one gas station to becoming one of California’s largest independently owned retail fuel station owners is the kind of growth story we want to be telling about Pearson Fuels one day. E85 burns much cleaner than gasoline and add to that the fact that it is renewable, domestically produced and currently selling at substantial discounts to gasoline. Literally thousands of E85 compatible flex-fuel vehicles drive by on the freeway beside this station every day and now they have a convenient location to save money and reduce their tailpipe emissions with this inexpensive, clean, renewable fuel,” Lewis said.
G&M Oil Company Senior Vice-President Julie Jackson said, “We have sold E85 Flex Fuel at four of our locations for several years and are happy with the results. The customers seem happy to be saving money and helping the environment. We are confident based on our experience with E85 so far that the public will embrace these new E85 locations and we are excited to continue our leadership in the industry by showing that these sites can be converted quickly and safely so the public can have a new fuel choice throughout our market area. We will be working closely with Pearson Fuels to keep the website updated so consumers can locate an E85 site near them. We are happy to be working with Pearson Fuels on this project!”
Partial funding for these projects was made available through the California Energy Commission’s Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program. That funding, matched with G&M’s and Pearson’s, is allowing these sites to be built.
Pearson Fuels has grown from one alternative fuel station opened in San Diego in 2003 to become California’s largest independently owned ethanol distributor. They specialize in the development of alternative fuel infrastructure and distributing alternative fuels.
Founded in 1969 G&M is one of California’s largest independently owned retail fuel station companies with sites throughout Southern California including Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego and Ventura counties.
