For the unversed, ethanol is a renewable fuel that is produced from agricultural waste such as sugarcane, corn, maize, and barley. That said, ethanol is a cost-effective fuel as compared to other fossil fuels and also releases significantly lesser tailpipe toxins into the ambient air.
Besides ethanol from biowaste, India also has huge potential for Ethanol production using plant waste or residues like ‘Parali’ by using 2G technology, which is otherwise burnt causing widespread pollution in northern parts of India.
Additionally, ethanol has a higher octane rating compared to petrol and is anticipated to play a key role in enhancing the power and performance of the car. While the fuel-efficiency of flex fuel vehicles is marginally lower than similar petrol vehicles, the lower fuel cost of ethanol fuel should be able to offset the loss comfortably.
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What is Flex Fuel technology?
Flex fuel technology allows the engine of a vehicle to utilize a higher blend of ethanol in petrol/gasoline (more than 20%). At present, Brazil is the country with the highest ethanol blend average of 48 percent. On the other hand, several OEMs in India have started enabling their vehicles with E20 fuel compatibility. The country is aiming to achieve 20% ethanol blending by 2025 and E20 fuel is already available across 3,300 fuel pumps across the country.
Notably, in the recent past, the Ethanol mix (in petrol) in India has gone up from 1.53% in 2013-14 to 11.5% in March 2023, which has helped reduce the oil import bill by Rs. 41,500 crores in the last eight years.
The ethanol-powered Innova can be expected to be available in the Indian market in the coming years.
Innova Flex-Fuel
While the car remains the same cosmetically, it does sport badges to differentiate it from its ICE counterpart. Under the hood, it gets a 2.0-litre flex-fuel strong hybrid engine that can run on 100% (93% max possible) ethanol.
Speaking on the launch event, Gadkari said, “India can reach 20% Ethanol blending within three months as our ethanol manufacturers have that capacity. India can become the world’s number 1 producer of ethanol,”
“My dream is to have all cars, two-wheelers, auto rickshaws running on 100% Ethanol”, the minister further added.
(More updates to follow)