Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has just unveiled India’s first car with a flex-fuel engine in Toyota Motor’s Corolla Altis sedan that comes with a hybrid powertrain.
This roll out is part of a pilot project to promote flex-fuel strong hybrid electric vehicles (EVs) in the country.
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| Toyota Corolla Altis flex-fuel car will be compatible with petrol, ethanol and an electric powertrain -- Photo source: Carandbike.com. |
This comes as the central government is paving the way for alternative fuel for vehicles to pare pollution and curb oil imports, which takes a toll on India’s coffers.
Earlier, Toyota had rolled out the Mirae, a hydrogen-powered car, and now, it has got the government’s go ahead to come up with a flex-fuel engine car.
The Corolla Altis’s flex-fuel engine would be compatible with petrol, ethanol and an electric powertrain.
The Altis comes with a 1.8-litre ethanol-ready petrol-hybrid engine. And, the car can operate on fuel, which has ethanol blending from 20 to 100 per cent.
The flexible engine is capable of generating power up to 75.3 kW and 142 Nm of peak torque.
Besides, the Toyota Corolla Altis has a 1.3 kWh hybrid battery pack and the electric motor belts out an output of 53.7 kW and 162.8 Nm of torque.
Moreover, the Altis’ engine is mated with a CVT Hybrid Transaxle transmission system.
On this type of fuel, Gadkari said that instead of operating only on one fuel, the flex-fuel car would run on petrol and up to 83 per cent ethanol-mixed fuel.
Toyota Motor could be one of the first auto majors to roll out a vehicle powered by a flex-fuel engine.
According to the minister, two-wheeler giants such as Bajaj Auto, TVS and Hero MotoCorp are expected to roll out ethanol-powered vehicles too.
Flex-fuel vehicles are those that can operate on a combo of full petrol or 100 per cent bioethanol as well as their blends, along with strong hybrid electric tech where they can be powered fully by a battery (EV mode).
It is a flexible fuel that is compatible with internal combustion engines (ICEs). This type of car can operate on either petrol/diesel and a combination of fuels.
Toyota’s flex-fuel car can utilise petrol mixed with 10 per cent ethanol that is available right now.
Moreover, flex-fuel engines come equipped with a fuel-mix sensor along with engine control module (ECM) programming. These can adjust to any ratio of a mixed fuel.
Advantages/disadvantages of flex-fuel engines
The biggest positive of this engine is that ethanol blending will help slash polluting elements emitted by such a vehicle. The fuel cost will remain low in the long term.
One disadvantage is that there could be a hit on the efficiency figures, though this will be minuscule compared to diesel or petrol variants of the car.
Conclusion
So, the Toyota Corolla Altis hybrid’s flex-fuel engine is an alternative fuel arrangement that can gain traction like EVs provided the infra gets an immediate boost and there are no glitches so far as performance and comfort of these vehicles are concerned.
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