Toyota is set to unveil India’s first ‘flex fuel’ car on September 28, 2022. It can run on one or multiple fuel types and developed as part of a new pilot aimed at deleveraging the country’s dependence on imported fossil fuels for transportation.
Key points
- In Brazil, nearly all cars are required to be equipped to handle fuel blends with a minimum of 22 per cent ethanol,
- A flex fuel, or flexible fuel, vehicle has an internal combustion engine (ICE), but unlike a regular petrol or diesel vehicle, this can run on more than one type of fuel, or even a mixture of fuels.
- The most common versions use a blend of petrol and ethanol or methanol, but these engines are also equipped to run on 100 per cent petrol or ethanol as well.
- This is made possible by equipping the engine with a fuel mix sensor and an engine control module (ECM) programming.
- Flex fuel vehicles have one fuel system, and most components are the same as those found in a conventional petrol-only car.
- The ECM is also calibrated to accommodate the higher oxygen content of ethanol.
Benefits of Flexi fuel
- The use of ethanol blending sharply lowers harmful pollutants such as carbon monoxide, sulphur, and carbon and nitrogen oxides.
- Blending will help cutback on oil imports for fueling vehicles.
Concerns
- A flex fuel car typically takes a small hit on fuel efficiency when using ethanol for motive power, ranging from between 4 per cent and 8 per cent.
- A major problem with ethanol blending is that crops such as sugarcane are usually very water-intensive. A NITI Aayog report suggested that in 2019-20, of the total ethanol produced in the country, over 90 per cent came from sugarcane alone.
