Yearender 2022: Flex Fuel Makes Hesitant Entry Into India, Challenges And Road Ahead

A movement known as "flex-fuel" promotes the use of alternative fuels in vehicles with flexible drives. These are automobiles with a variable fuel system. This enables them to run on petrol, diesel, or ethanol as necessary. The majority of flex-fuel vehicles are created to protect the environment and lower carbon emissions worldwide. Additionally, flex-fuel vehicles are less expensive to operate than their petroleum-powered counterparts.

Flex fuel is essentially regular gasoline blended with ethanol. This makes using a variety of alternative fuels easier for hybrid or flex-drive vehicles. It's a method for automakers to improve the versatility and fuel efficiency of their vehicles. The most popular flex fuel mixture is composed of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. Additionally, some flex fuels include lubricants and Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs allow for clean vehicle emissions, as they allow for cleaner vehicle operation and emissions reduction strategies).

The flex-fuel vehicles have an internal combustion engine designed specifically for them (similar to a petrol engine), but they can also run on ethanol-blend fuel. The majority of the parts are comparable to those in a petrol engine, but the fuel injectors on the vehicles differ significantly. The engine control module is another factor; it has been adjusted to take into account the higher oxygen content of ethanol.

Flex Fuel In India 2022:

The automobile manufacturers have announced that they have been working on the production of flex-fuel-powered vehicles. India has seen two flex-fuel vehicles in this one year. Toyota Corolla Altis Hybrid was the first vehicle to be introduced in the presence of Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India. Recently, Maruti has also unveiled its WagonR flex fuel in an event and is expected to launch by 2025.

Not only this, the two-wheeler manufacturers including Honda, Bajaj, and TVS have said they are ready with the flex-fuel technology and all they are looking for is the infrastructure.

Why Flex Fuel Is The Future?

Talking to the data, the vehicle is going to reach the 7-million-unit market in 2030 according to a report by AutoCar. But to protect the environment from emissions, the resources and to make fuel affordable, some steps need to be taken. This is where the flex fuel steps in. The flex fuel is affordable, cleaner, and a blend of ethanol and gasoline. The only thing which is now needed is the infrastructure.

While sales of electric vehicles have increased, the infrastructure still has room for improvement. People are still having problems with charging; among the main issues faced by EV owners are a lack of charging stations, a dearth of charging stations, and an excessive amount of EV owners. The vehicle's range is another restriction on EV owners. The availability of flex-fuel vehicles coupled with fuel pumps may prove to be a more advantageous, cost-effective option with fewer restrictions.

Flex-fuel vehicles are most commonly used in western countries like Canada, Brazil, and the US. According to a report by Statista, the United States is currently the world’s leading manufacturer of flex-fuel with over 15 billion gallons of biofuel production capacity. While Brazil is the second largest biofuel-producing country in the world with the capacity to produce 7.5 billion gallons in a year.

Will The Shift To Flex Fuel Be Easy?

Well, not really. The flex fuel will require modern technology built with anti-corrosive strong hybrid engines to shift towards the E20. Another key aspect that is largely going to affect the cars is the ethanol's lower energy density as running it on the higher blend will significantly reduce the efficiency of the vehicle.

Another thing that would definitely affect the shift would be the production of fuel. If any car manufacturer rolls out a flex fuel vehicle for potential buyers, the availability of ethanol-based fuel would be a matter of concern.