Economy

Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has known as on carmakers to begin producing flex-fuel vehicles and flex-fuel hybrids in india, whereas saying a similar will be commute-ready within six months.

·        Flex fuel vehicles (FFV) are capable of running on one hundred per cent petrol or one hundred per cent bioethanol or a mixture of each.

·        Bio-ethanol contains less energy per litre than gas however the calorific worth (energy contained within the fuel) of bio-ethanol can become on par with petrol with use of advanced technology.

·        The government has conjointly suggested carmakers to begin creating Flex Fuel strong Hybrid electrical Vehicles (FFSHEV).

·        Such a vehicle, although yet to be created wide available in world markets, basically homes an electrical motor that powers the vehicle alongside the traditional petrol engine.

What method are they totally different from existing vehicles?

·        Since an FFV is capable of running on either petrol or ethanol, itll be the primary of its kind one hundred per cent dual fuel vehicle to run on Indian roads.

·        To make sure, a litre of petrol sold  in india has an average of eight per cent ethanol content although oil promoting firms have clearance to try to to even ten per cent (E10) blending.

·        All vehicles factory-made in india are tuned for E10.

·        All existing vehicles on Indian roads wont be ready to run on higher ethanol content beyond ten per cent.

·        To what extent can FFVs facilitate in cutting emission? consistent with a report by the professional committee formed by the Ministry of crude oil and fossil fuel, by simply hitting E20, carbon monoxide emissions were observed to be fifty per cent lower in two-wheelers and thirty per cent lower in four-wheelers compared to petrol.

·        Hydrocarbons were lower by twenty per cent.

·        The report additionally mentioned that E20 blending can result in drop by fuel efficiency by nearly 6-7 per cent in four-wheelers designed for E0 and calibrated to E10.

What has been the auto industry’s reaction to government’s policy?

·        Higher mixing of ethanol can mean higher producing prices that translates to pricier vehicles.

·        Certain auto parts, particularly those who come in contact with higher ethanol content, can need to get replaced with a compatible product to avoid corrosion.