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Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles

PWOnlyIAS December 14, 2023 06:05 1368 0

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The electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles integrates both a Flex Fuel engine and an electric powertrain, offering the dual benefit of higher ethanol use and improved fuel efficiency.

Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles

Questionnaire

  • What are Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles?
  • How Does Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles Work?
  • What are the advantages of Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles?
  • What are the drawbacks of the Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles
  • What is Flex Fuel?
  • What is India’s ethanol blending target?
  • What is India’s status in Ethanol Production?
  • What are the benefits of Ethanol Blending?
  • What are Bharat Stage (BS) Norms?
  • How do Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles create dependency on China?

Context: Recently, the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas unveiled the prototype of the World’s 1st BS-6 Stage-II Electrified Flex fuel vehicles.

What are Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles?

  • About: The Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles are passenger vehicles having both a Flex Fuel engine and an electric powertrain.
  • Operation: This type of vehicle can run on both ethanol fuel engines as well as on EV Mode. It enables a dual mode of working of a vehicle’s transmission.
    • These types of vehicles have the potential to run on up to 85% ethanol-blended petrol. 

How Does Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles Work?

  • Powering Unit: The Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles will contain two sets of powering units. One will be the flex fuel engine and the other will be an electric motor.
  • Operation: Initially, the flex fuel engine will provide power for the vehicle through its Internal Combustion Engine.
    • During the running of the vehicle, the electric power storing unit will get charged. When the battery is fully charged, the transmission will switch to electric power.
    • This will continue until electric power lasts, after which the transmission will switch back to a flex fuel engine. This cycle will continue.

What are the advantages of Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles?

  • Higher Fuel Efficiency: Electrified Flex Fuel vehicles have 30-50% higher Fuel Efficiency as they can run 40-60% in EV mode by keeping the engine shut.
  • Promote Ethanol Blending: The introduction of flex-fuel engines has enabled greater blending of ethanol in petroleum.
  • Lower Emissions: Due to the lower use of fuel-based engines in energy transmission, the emission of greenhouse gasses is lower.
  • Self-sufficiency: Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles use minimal chemical batteries, enabling India to reduce the Geo-political risks of battery raw material supplies.
  • Rise in Agricultural Income: Ethanol is manufactured from agricultural produce. This will serve as an additional source of income for farmers.
  • Reduce Petroleum Import Bills: Due to the steady increase in ethanol blending, the demand for petroleum imports has remained under control. This has allowed the saving of precious foreign exchange. 

What are the drawbacks of the Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles?

  • Maintenance Cost is High: Ethanol fuel can cause corrosion and damage to the engine, mainly because it absorbs dirt easily.
  • Supply Chain: The supply chain of flex-fuel is not as widespread as petroleum fuel. This discourages users from opting for flex-fuel cars.
  • Infrastructure Investment: The initial investment required to switch to flex fuel vehicles is high. Appropriate infrastructure needs to be set up at every fuel station.
  • Lower Mileage: Ethanol contains less energy than pure petrol. Hence, a flex-fuel car will use more fuel as compared to a conventional petrol car. 

What is Flex Fuel?

  • About: Flex fuel is a type of alternative fuel made by mixing petrol with ethanol. Currently, vehicles manufactured in India are compatible with E20 fuel (petrol blended with 20% ethanol).
  • Composition: Flex fuel vehicles can run on any fuel, which can be up to 100% ethanol. However, the commonly used flex fuel uses 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent petrol.
  • Major Issue: Only flex fuel vehicles have lower fuel efficiency as ethanol has lower energy density compared to petrol and diesel.

What are Bharat Stage (BS) Norms?

  • About: The Bharat Stage (BS) norms are emission standards set up by the Government of India to regulate the emission of air pollutants from motor vehicles.
    • Implemented by the Central Pollution Control Board, the BS norms are based on European emission standards.
  • BS Norms Applicable in India: The current emission standard requires that all new cars produced, sold, and registered in India from April 2020, must comply with the BS-VI norms. 
  • BS6 Stage II Norms:
    • This norm includes Real Driving Emissions (RDE)  Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE 2) and On-Board Diagnostics.
    • These features provide a realistic estimation of the amount of emissions taking place from vehicles in real traffic conditions with frequent changes in speed, acceleration, and deceleration.

What is India’s ethanol blending target?

  • Ethanol: Known as ethyl alcohol, ethanol is a biofuel with the chemical formula C2H5OH. It is a byproduct of sugar manufacturing.
    • Ethanol can be obtained from agricultural feedstock such as corn, sugarcane, hemp, potato, and rice, among many other things.
  • Advantages: Ethanol can be produced domestically at a lower cost than importing crude oil. This saves foreign exchange.
    • It is considered a clean fuel as it has very negligible carbon emissions. There is a reduced emission of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides.
  • Production in India: India is currently the fifth largest producer of ethanol. The US, Brazil, the European Union, and China are above India.
    • Currently, India has advanced the target for 20% ethanol blending in petrol (called E20) to 2025 from 2030.
  • The current level of ethanol blending in petrol is 11.8%. This is a significant rise from 1.53% in 2013-14.

What is India’s status in Ethanol Production?

  • Currently, India has advanced the target for 20% ethanol blending in petrol (called E20) to 2025 from 2030.
  • The current level of ethanol blending in petrol is 11.8%. This is a significant rise from 1.53% in 2013-14.

What are the Benefits of Methanol Blending?

Ethanol can be produced domestically at a lower cost than importing crude oil. This saves foreign exchange. It is considered a clean fuel as it has very negligible carbon emissions. There is a reduced emission of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides.

How do Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles create dependency on China?

  • Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles operate on a hybrid of flex fuel engines and electric power units. 
    • The electric power unit requires a battery for storage.
  • Construction of batteries requires rare-earth elements, a market essentially controlled by China.
  • Over-dependence on the Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicles would mean excessive dependence on China.

Conclusion:

Electrified Flex Fuel technology needs further refinement to make it suitable for mass adoption. In the absence of such policies, the potential advantages cannot be reaped.

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