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Greater adoption of flex-fuel vehicles(FFV) in India is possible if more government policies incentivizing consumer acceptance are introduced, according to Vikram Gulati, Country Head and Executive Vice President, Toyota Kirloskar Motor.
Pilot project
The company, which launched a pilot project on flexi-fuel, strong hybrid electric vehicle technology last year, is currently evaluating the FFVs under Indian conditions and collecting data. “The primary challenge in the adoption of FFVs is lack of consumer acceptance, which is largely driven by the fact that there is fuel efficiency loss when shifting to ethanol.”
According to Gulati, the cost of acquisition and the difference in the cost of fuel need to be improved to enhance consumer acceptance and adoption of flex-fuel vehicles. “The government is rapidly introducing policies to promote cleaner fuel. Similarly, if more policies are examined from a consumer acceptance point of view, adoption will be much faster. Moreover, if there are good policy signals, the development cycle of these technologies will pick up pace,” Gulati added.
With a growing focus on minimizing fossil fuel usage and achieving carbon reduction, the government and various stakeholders are actively working on alternative fuels. Recently, the government rolled out a 20 per cent ethanol blend in gasoline. Furthermore, Jio-BP, a joint venture between Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) and BP in the fuels and mobility sectors, launched E20 blended fuel.
Ethanol benefits
The potential and benefits of ethanol production are enormous. According to the company, these benefits can be multiplied by the introduction of flexi fuel vehicle (FFV) technology, which can use higher ethanol blends ranging from 20 to 85 per cent.
“In India, ethanol makes a lot of sense because the entire ecosystem is self-sufficient, whether it’s the fuel, which comes from sugarcane and foodgrains, or the technology used in the processing plants to convert raw materials into ethanol, which is also highly localized. Moreover, in the automotive sector, building flex-fuel vehicles just needs modification of the existing ecosystem with some material changes and additional development activity,” he added.
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