E85 is a mix of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Ethanol is ethyl alcohol that in the United States is primarily made from corn. It is currently the most available alternative to gasoline.

Not all cars can run on such a high mix of ethanol-gasoline, but there are 5 million "flex fuel" vehicles in the US like the one Pike will drive, and their number is rising.

Steve Geer, manager of online advocacy for the Center for American Progress, which is sponsoring the trip, said that of the 170,000 US gasoline stations, only 750 offer E85.

"We're worried about having to take huge detours. We are going to have to plot our course way in advance to ensure that only E85 is used in the trip," said primary driver Pike.

The Washington, D.C.-to-Los Angeles trip will be launched by Illinois Democratic Senator Barack Obama and is geared toward creating more awareness among young Americans of ethanol as an alternative to gasoline.

The Center for American Progress claims to have progressive members from both major political parties.

The trip is also part of the organization's "Kick the Oil Habit" campaign, which harkens back to President George W. Bush's call in last January's State of the Union Address to wean Americans from their addiction to foreign oil.

One of the first stops Wednesday will be outside Exxon Mobil's offices in Fairfax, Virginia near Washington to deliver a letter the organization is offering on its Internet website. http://www.kicktheoilhabit.org/

The letter calls on six big oil companies -- Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, Chevron, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Valero -- to "double the number of E85 pumps over the next year and provide the green fuel at half of all gas stations within a decade."

STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Ethanol is not universally supported and opponents include more than the Big Oil companies.

While its costs are higher than gasoline, the Center for American Progress's Geer said the price of ethanol will drop once production increases.

Ethanol gets less gas mileage, and energy used to grow and refine corn into the fuel consumes a lot of energy that causes pollution anyway, according to the Consumer Energy Council of America.

The same group points out the benefits of ethanol, including the lower polluting emissions, support for local economies and independence from foreign sources of oil.

"The central issue is America's dependence on oil and kicking the oil habit," said Geer. "Ethanol is not a final solution but a very good step in the right direction."