Federal government's flex fuel vehicle purchases actually down since 2009

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama said, "When I'm president, I will make sure that every vehicle purchased by the federal government" has a flexible-fuel tank.

Flexible fuel vehicles are designed to run either on gasoline or on a blend of up to 85 percent ethanol, a format known as E85. Beyond a few mechanical modifications, flex-fuel vehicles are identical to gasoline-only models.

Here's a chart showing vehicle acquisitions by fuel type between 2006 and 2010, published by the General Services Administration, the federal office that oversees the federal vehicle fleet. Numbers for 2011 are not yet available.

The chart shows that 41 percent of federal vehicle purchases in 2010 were for E85 vehicles. That's clearly not "every vehicle,” as Obama had promised. And while it does represent an notable increase compared to five years earlier, it's actually a slight decrease in percentage terms compared to 2008, the year before Obama took office. The absolute number of E85 cars also dropped between 2009 and 2010, according to the data.

The market for E85 -- already challenging due to limited numbers of fuel pumps -- could deteriorate further with the expiration of a federal tax credit for ethanol at the start of this year. "Without the 38-cent-per-gallon subsidy that went away Jan. 1, E85 prices are moving up,” the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported. "It's still cheaper than gasoline, but the shrinking difference may not be enough to compensate drivers who get fewer miles per gallon because of the fuel's lower energy content.”

The vehicle-purchase numbers look more favorable to Obama if you add together all types of vehicles that aren't traditional gasoline or diesel. In 2008, alternative-fuel vehicles collectively accounted for 44 percent. In 2010, that number rose to nearly 52 percent.

So Obama has made gains in boosting federal purchases of alternative-fuel vehicles, but on the specific promise he made -- "when I'm president, I will make sure that every vehicle purchased by the federal government" has a flexible-fuel tank  -- the numbers show that he's nowhere near bringing it to completion. We rate this a Promise Broken.