You pull up to the pump, spot the yellow E85 handle, and start wondering whether your 2013 Ford Fusion can use it. It is an easy question to ask, especially because Ford sold plenty of flex-fuel vehicles over the years. Add in old forum talk, used-car listings, and half-remembered advice from past models, and it gets muddy fast.
The short answer is no. A 2013 Ford Fusion is not meant to run on E85. Ford’s 2013 Fusion owner manual says to use only unleaded fuel or unleaded fuel blended with a maximum of 15% ethanol, and it says not to use fuel ethanol E85. That is the clean answer straight from Ford, not a guess from a message board.
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So if you were hoping for a simple yes, this is one of those times where the answer is just a hard no. A 2013 Fusion can take regular gas with up to 15% ethanol, but not E85. That means normal E10 is fine, E15 is within the manual’s limit, and E85 is outside what Ford says the car was built to handle.
What Ford says in the 2013 Fusion owner manual
This is the part that settles it. In the fuel section of the 2013 Ford Fusion owner manual, Ford says to use only unleaded fuel or unleaded fuel blended with a maximum of 15% ethanol. The same section then says not to use fuel ethanol E85, diesel fuel, fuel-methanol, leaded fuel, or any other fuel because it could damage or impair the emission system.
That wording is plain. It does not leave much room for interpretation. Ford is not saying E85 is fine once in a while. It is not saying E85 is okay in one trim but not another. It says not to use it. That is the kind of line you want to take seriously, because fuel-system repairs are not cheap and ethanol-heavy fuel in the wrong car can cause a mess that spreads farther than the gas tank.
In simple terms, your 2013 Fusion wants gas, not flex-fuel. It can handle the ethanol blend most regular pump gas already has in it, but it is not built for the much higher ethanol content in E85.
Why this question confuses so many Fusion owners
A lot of the confusion comes from older Fusions. Earlier generations had flex-fuel versions, so people see “Ford Fusion” and assume the whole nameplate must be E85-friendly. That is where the wires get crossed. Not every Fusion is the same, and the 2013 model year matters here.
Another reason is that Ford’s maintenance pages and some printed maintenance language mention “flex fuel vehicles only” in a broad service context. That can make owners think there must be a flex-fuel 2013 Fusion hiding somewhere in the range. But the fuel chapter in the 2013 owner manual is the piece that counts most for daily fueling, and that chapter tells you not to use E85.
There is also the usual internet problem. One person had a 2012 Fusion that could run flex-fuel. Another person owns a 2013 and assumes the same rule carries over. Before long, the advice starts drifting around like fog. The car itself does not get any clearer just because ten strangers say ten different things.
What fuel can a 2013 Ford Fusion use?
For the standard gasoline 2013 Fusion, Ford says unleaded fuel is the way to go, with a maximum ethanol content of 15%. That means regular pump gas in the United States is usually fine. Most gas sold today is E10, which means up to 10% ethanol. The manual’s wording also leaves room for up to E15.
What it does not leave room for is E85. E85 is a whole different level, usually containing far more ethanol than the standard blends found at most pumps. That higher alcohol content changes how the engine, fuel system, and control systems need to work. A flex-fuel vehicle is built with that in mind. A normal gasoline-only Fusion from 2013 is not.
So the safest plain-English answer is this. Use normal unleaded gas. Do not use the yellow E85 nozzle. If you see a pump advertising a much higher ethanol blend than regular gas, keep moving.
What about the 2013 Fusion Hybrid or Fusion Energi?
The answer is still no. Ford’s 2013 Fusion Hybrid and Fusion Energi material also says not to use E85 because the vehicle is not designed to run on fuels with more than 15% ethanol. So even if your Fusion is one of the electrified versions, E85 is still off the table.
This matters because some people assume a hybrid can take anything with “green” in the pitch. That is not how it works. A hybrid still has a gasoline engine with fuel-system limits, and those limits still matter. Being easier on fuel does not mean being flex-fuel-ready.
So whether your 2013 Fusion is a regular gas model, a Hybrid, or an Energi, the answer stays the same. E85 is not the right fuel for it.
What happens if you put E85 in by mistake?
One accidental partial fill is not the same as a death sentence, so there is no need to panic if it already happened. The main thing is not to turn a small mistake into a bigger one. If you only added a small amount of E85 to a tank that already had a lot of regular gas in it, the car may still run, though it is not a good habit to repeat.
If you filled the tank mostly or fully with E85, the smarter move is to stop driving it and ask a shop what to do next. Modern cars can try to adjust for a lot, but that does not mean they are built for the wrong fuel. Too much ethanol in a non-flex-fuel car can lead to poor running, hard starts, warning lights, rough idle, and trouble that spreads into the fuel and emission systems.
Think of it like feeding the car a diet it was never built to digest. It may swallow some of it. That does not mean it likes it.
How to check your own car if you still are not sure
The first place to check is the owner manual, because that is Ford’s own answer. The second place is the fuel door. Many flex-fuel vehicles have clear labels that mention E85 or flex-fuel use. If your 2013 Fusion does not carry that kind of label, that is another clue pointing the same way.
You can also check the VIN with a Ford dealer if you want a trim-specific answer. That can help if you bought the car used and do not fully trust what a seller told you. Used-car listings can be sloppy, and some sellers toss around “flex-fuel” like it is a magic word that applies to everything.
Still, for the 2013 Fusion, you usually do not need detective work to settle the matter. Ford already did that part in the fuel chapter of the manual.
Why E85 is not a free cheap-fuel shortcut anyway
Some drivers look at E85 because it can be cheaper per gallon. That sounds tempting until you remember the fuel has less energy per gallon than regular gasoline. Even in a true flex-fuel vehicle, fuel economy often drops on E85. So the lower pump price is not always the bargain it first appears to be.
That is worth keeping in mind because some people treat E85 like a secret discount code at the gas station. It is not. In the wrong car, it is just the wrong fuel. In the right car, it can still mean more frequent fill-ups. So even if your 2013 Fusion could use it, which it cannot, the story would still not be as simple as “cheaper gas equals easy savings.”
Fuel choices are a little like shoe sizes. A lower price does not help much if the fit is wrong.
The real answer
No, a 2013 Ford Fusion should not take E85. Ford says to use unleaded fuel with no more than 15% ethanol and says not to use E85. That rule covers the regular gasoline Fusion, and Ford’s hybrid material says the same thing for the Fusion Hybrid and Fusion Energi.
If you want the shortest possible version, here it is. E10 is fine. E15 is within Ford’s stated limit. E85 is not. So when you pull up to the pump, skip the flex-fuel nozzle and stick with standard unleaded gasoline. That is the safe answer, the manual answer, and the answer most likely to keep your 2013 Fusion happy for the long run.