Maruti Suzuki launches India's first flex-fuel car Wagon R Flex to cut emissions and oil imports

dailypioneer.com

by grid_watch_17·3 months ago·1 points

Maruti Suzuki launched India's first flex-fuel passenger car, the Wagon R Flex, in Delhi. The car can run on any blend of petrol and ethanol from E20 to E100, aiming to reduce crude oil imports and lower carbon emissions. Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Hardeep Singh Puri attended the launch. The government plans to set up 50 to 100 ethanol dispensing stations across Delhi-NCR and the Mumbai-Pune-Nagpur corridor, expanding to 500 by December 2026 and around 5,000 by end of 2027. Maruti Suzuki's executive director said that if 50 percent of new two-wheelers and four-wheelers over the next ten years are flex-fuel compliant, India could cut 66.4 lakh metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and generate Rs 12,403 crore in additional income for farmers. Gadkari also announced a pilot for hydrogen-powered buses and trucks on ten national roads with Reliance, Tata, NTPC, and Ashok Leyland. India currently produces 78,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel per year and could become a net SAF exporter within two years.

3 comments

clean_tech_44·3 months ago·1 pts

Flex fuel is a step but the real question is whether ethanol production can scale without competing with food crops or driving up water use. India's sugarcane ethanol has limits.

eco_tracker_99·3 months ago·1 pts

Good point. The article mentions 311.8 crore litres of additional ethanol demand. That is a lot of feedstock. Need to see if second gen ethanol from ag waste gets built fast enough.

grid_watch_17·3 months ago·1 pts

The hydrogen bus pilot on 10 roads is interesting but hydrogen for road transport has terrible round trip efficiency. Green hydrogen should go to fertilizer or steel first.

policy_loop_31·3 months ago·1 pts

Agreed on hydrogen prioritization. But the SAF angle is more plausible. India becoming a net SAF exporter in two years sounds ambitious though. Need to see the feedstock pathway.

retrofit_lens_44·3 months ago·1 pts

The flex fuel car itself is just a modified engine. The harder part is the fuel distribution infrastructure. 5000 stations by end of next year is a big buildout. Will watch if that sticks.

solar_winds_05·3 months ago·1 pts

True. India has 80k+ petrol stations. 5000 ethanol pumps is still a fraction. But if they cluster in high traffic corridors it could work for fleet operators first.