Flex-fuel Cars Could Be A Reality In India Soon

In today’s quest for alternatives to fossil fuels, there have been plenty of options tabled in the automotive industry which include hybrids, CNG, hydrogen, as well as the current trendsetters, electric. But another alternative, called flex fuels, has been suggested by Nitin Gadkari, the current Minister of Road Transport & Highways for some time. And recently, Gadkari issued an advisory to carmakers to manufacture flex-fuel engines in their cars as well as flex-fuel hybrid vehicles in the country and have them hit the roads within the next six months.

In simple terms, flex fuel cars combine two fuels, petrol and ethanol. Yes, carmakers will need to modify the engines on their current cars to run on flex fuel, but it’s unlikely to cost as much as an electric powertrain in development. Currently, our cars can adapt to adapt to 5-10 percent ethanol, depending on the engine. Not only will flex fuel be cleaner but cheaper than petrol which is sorely needed in times of rising oil prices.

Nitin Gadlkari claims these vehicles will be able to run on a combination of 100 percent petrol or 100 percent bio-ethanol and their blends, as well as strong hybrid electric technology in the case of flex fuel hybrid vehicles.

While this advisory is yet another bold push by the Minister of Road Transport & Highways, we’re yet to have word from carmakers on adopting flex fuel on their lineup, and it might take a while to do so. That being said, Maruti Suzuki had confirmed earlier on its consideration of launching flex fuel cars in the country, though they’re still in their research and development stages.