LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Kwik Trip is the latest convenience-store chain to add E15, the 15% ethanol/gasoline blend, to its fuel offer.
It plans to add E15 to most of its more than 500 sites in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin over the next few years, and it has already begun the rollout. Once it meets this goal, Kwik Trip would have among the highest number of E15 locations in the United States. It is using existing fueling infrastructure to offer E15, including at the more than 90 sites where it sells E85, the 85% ethanol/gasoline blend.
“At Kwik Trip, we pride ourselves on offering consumers a first-class experience at our convenience stores,” said Joel Hirschboeck, general manager of fuel procurement and marketing for Kwik Trip. “Part of the value we can provide consumers is through offering them an array of choices at the pump. Adding E15 was an important step for us. It’s a clean-burning, high performing fuel that also delivers savings when drivers pull up to the pump. Providing the best options for consumers is certainly important to us, and E15 fits in very nicely with that goal.”
Hirschboeck told CSP Daily News that the exact timeline of the rollout is not yet set, but "over the next few years we plan to have it available at the bulk of our locations. We feel this is a value-add product to our guests, offering higher octane at a lower price, and are encouraged by what is yet to come."
Kwik Trip follows Casey’s General Stores Inc., Ankeny, Iowa, which just announced its plans to roll out E15 and E85 to 17 locations in Illinois, Iowa and Kansas, and Tulsa, Okla.-based QuikTrip, which announced in March that it was adding E15 to more than 40 sites in Texas.
“The list of retailers offering E15 is expanding constantly, and we are excited to welcome Kwik Trip as the latest retailer to join Prime the Pump and the impressive group at the forefront of expanding fuel choices for American drivers,” said Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy, Washington, D.C., referring to the initiative that provides funding for retailers who want to add E15.
“Consumers are seeing the value E15 offers—from burning cleaner and cooler, which is better for engines and the environment, to saving up to 10 cents per gallon each trip at the pump—and we’re thrilled that more and more Americans are having access to it each day,” she said.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved E15 for use in vehicle models 2001 and newer, or nine of 10 vehicles on the road today, according to Kwik Trip.
Kwik Trip is one of the most aggressive adopters of alternative fuels in the industry, selling not only ethanol blends such as E15 and E85 but also biodiesel at nearly 90 sites and compressed natural gas (CNG) at more than 30 locations.
Other chains now offering E15 include Family Express, Kum & Go, Mapco, Minnoco, Murphy USA, Protec Fuels, RaceTrac, Sheetz and Thorntons.
Founded in 1965 and based in La Crosse, Wis., Kwik Trip Inc. owns and operates more than 550 stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa.
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