Apart from encouraging Indian automakers to focus more on electric mobility, the Indian government also wants them to plan for flex-fuel technology. Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, was also seen driving in a Toyota Mirai, one of the most popular hydrogen-powered cars in the world, a few weeks ago. According to a MoneyControl report, Toyota plans to launch a flex-fuel vehicle in India on September 28th.
The Toyota Mirai, for example, works on the principle of using more than one fuel option for the operation of its internal combustion engine. A mixture of two or more fuel options enters the combustion engine here, with ethanol serving as the secondary fuel in most cases. Flex-fuels are likely to combine the use of petrol and ethanol in India, as they are the most feasible fuel options currently available.
Certain changes and modifications are required to change the ECU so that it can determine the composition and ratio of fuels used to make the engine suitable for running on a combination of two or more fuels. A flex-fuel engine can run on 100% petrol or 100% ethanol in addition to a mixture of two fuels, such as gasoline and ethanol. Flex-fuel technology is already widely used in countries such as Brazil, Canada, and the United States.
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Certain changes and modifications are required to change the ECU, so that it can determine the composition and ratio of fuels used. A flex-fuel engine can run on a mixture of two fuels, such as gasoline and ethanol, but it can also run on 100% petrol or 100% ethanol. Currently, the concept of flex-fuel has been widely adopted in countries such as Brazil, Canada, and the United States.
In recent years, the Indian government has enacted a number of rules and regulations to encourage domestic automakers to focus on cleaner mobility solutions. The much-discussed shift to BS6 emission standards, as well as various subsidies for hybrid and electric vehicles, are prime examples of this encouragement. Several automakers have already expressed interest in introducing flex-fuel vehicles in the country in the coming months.
The government intends to develop pollution-free green hydrogen as an alternative fuel for vehicles in the future, with the Toyota Mirai serving as the pilot project vehicle. With this vehicle, the government is investigating the feasibility of producing hydrogen as a fuel, on the basis of which hydrogen-filling stations will be established across the country. Gadkari believes that hydrogen-powered vehicles, along with electric vehicles, are the future of mobility in the country, which is why cars like the Toyota Mirai will be available in the Indian car market very soon.
While Gadkari did not discuss the price of the Toyota Mirai or hydrogen as a fuel for the time being, he did request that the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr Hardeep Singh Puri, produce hydrogen using recycled water from sewage.
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