Gadkari’s Nudge For Carmakers To Manufacture Flex-fuel Vehicles In India

The union minister’s prod comes amid increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and is thought to reduce India’s total projected carbon emissions by a billion tonnes by 2030

Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has called on carmakers to start manufacturing flex-fuel vehicles and flex-fuel hybrids in India, while saying the same will be commute-ready within six months.

In order to substitute India’s import of petroleum as a fuel and to provide direct benefits to our farmers, we have now advised the Automobile Manufacturers in India to start manufacturing Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFV) and Flex Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles (FFV-SHEV)..(1/4)

— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) December 27, 2021

The union minister’s prod comes amid increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and is aimed at reducing India’s total projected carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030.

The Minister for Road Transport and Highways says that such vehicles can run on 100 percent petrol or 100 percent bio-ethanol and their blends, and flex fuel hybrids can also utilise strong hybrid electric tech. 

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Flex fuels are a blend of petrol and ethanol (or methanol) and will be considerably cheaper than petrol. Ethanol, commonly known as biofuel, is a pure form of alcohol made from sugarcane, among other things.

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Carmakers have yet to share their plans of adopting this technology, but Maruti has already confirmed that its lineup will consist of the same going forward. While Gadkari has claimed that the cost of vehicles won’t go up much once flex fuel is implemented, we still aren’t sure how carmakers plan to go ahead with it. That’s because it requires certain additions to existing powertrains.