The government has advised carmakers to start making Flex Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles (FFSHEV).
What are flex fuel vehicles?
Flex fuel vehicles (FFV) are capable of running on 100% petrol or 100% bio-ethanol or a combination of both.
Flex Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles (FFSHEV) essentially houses an electric motor which powers the vehicle alongside the traditional petrol engine.
Such vehicles are yet to be made widely available in world markets.
How are they different from existing vehicles?
Dual fuel vehicle means the engine uses two fuels (gas and diesel) at the same time
Bi Fuel means the engine could run on either fuel separately.
FFV is capable of running on either petrol or ethanol or a combination of both hence it is a synthesis of Dual fuel vehicle and Bi fuel vehicle.
What government standard prescribes for blending?
Bio-ethanol contains less energy per litre than petrol
However the calorific value will become on par with petrol with use of advanced technology.
A litre of petrol sold in India has an average of 8% ethanol content even though oil marketing companies have clearance to do 10% (E10) blending.
All vehicles manufactured in India are tuned for E10. They will not be able to run on higher ethanol content beyond 10%.
Why is government of India pushing for FFVs?
In FY21 India’s oil import bill stood at $62.7 billion.
To make matters worse, the rupee is at its weakest level in last three financial years.
The government is desperate to bring down the oil import bill by creating fuel substitutes like ethanol, hydrogen and electricity.
Even a push till the E20 level can result in savings of $4 billion per annum.
This is possible only if flex-fuel vehicles are made available in the market.
Also, FFVs will also help the government meet its commitments when it comes to reducing emission.
To what extent will FFVs help in cutting emission?
By hitting E20
Carbon monoxide emissions were 50% lower in two-wheelers and 30% lower in four-wheelers compared to petrol.
Hydrocarbons were lower by 20%.
E20 blending will result in drop in fuel efficiency by nearly 6-7% in 4 wheelers designed for E0 and calibrated to E10.
How does auto industry view this policy?
Auto parts that come in contact with higher ethanol content have to be replaced with a compatible product to avoid corrosion.
So higher blending of ethanol increases manufacturing costs of vehicles.
Automotive companies say that they are ready to move with E20 by 2025.
