Carmakers will most likely to miss the advisory deadline issued by the Nitin Gadkari-led Ministry of Road Transport and Highways over start of production of flex fuel engine vehicles by June as availability of ethanol as a fuel itself has been a problem for the government.

In December, Gadkari signed an advisory urging the carmakers to manufacture vehicles with flex fuel engines. These vehicles which can potentially run on 100 per cent petrol or 10 percent ethanol were to get commercially launched before June end.

“We have asked the carmakers to start production of flex fuel vehicles in the next six months. Three major players – Toyota, Suzuki and Hyundai – have agreed to manufacture them,” Gadkari had said in December. 

E20 compliance

Carmakers, are instead, working towards meeting the April 2023 deadline of making vehicles material-compliant for E20. E20 is a blend of 20 per cent ethanol and 80 per cent petrol. The Centre has laid down a target of achieving E20 by 2025. India’s current national average blending is around 8-8.5 per cent even though carmakers have been rolling out E10 compliant vehicles since the past several years. 

CV Raman, Chief Technology Officer, Maruti Suzuki India said, “Until the last six months we are doing 8.5 per cent (blending). We have to work on the technology. We do understand the potential flex fuel has going forward from (being) carbon neutral and COP26 perspective. But this needs to have a clear roadmap. Availability of the fuel pan India because portability of the vehicle is very important.”

While making the push for electric vehicles, the government is simultaneously promoting ethanol blending in petrol in an effort to bring down the country’s fuel import bill. As per official estimates, even a push till E20 can result in savings of $4 billion per annum. But while carmakers claim they are ready to make the switch to E20 by the stipulated time, rolling out vehicles which can run 100 percent on ethanol this year itself won’t be possible.

“There are huge amount of changes we have to do with the car, especially in the powertrain area. Because of the corrosive nature of the fuel we have to do a lot of coating on a lot of parts. This will require a huge amount of reengineering,” said a senior engineer from another car brand.

Cut in vehicular emissions

Not only will there be a notable reduction in imported fuel, vehicular emissions are also expected to come down dramatically with implementation of E20. According to a report by the expert committee formed by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, carbon monoxide emissions were observed to be 50 per cent lower in two-wheelers and 30 per cent lower in four-wheelers compared to petrol under E20.

The government has also advised carmakers to start making Flex Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles (FFSHEV). Such a vehicle, though yet to be made widely available in world markets, essentially houses an electric motor which powers the vehicle alongside the traditional petrol engine.

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