India’s flex-fuel vehicle rollout plan faces a chicken-and-egg hurdle
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: The government's push for flex-fuel vehicle rollout is facing a classic chicken-and-egg stalemate.Automakers aren't ready to commit to producing vehicles that run on high ethanol blends until the fuel is widely available. Oil marketing companies, on the other hand, are unwilling to invest in storing and supplying blends such as E85 and E100 until there are enough such vehicles on the road, according to three people aware of the development.The government is in talks with automakers and oil marketing companies to resolve the deadlock, the people cited above said, requesting anonymity.Unlike standard vehicles, flex-fuel vehicles can run on petrol or any petrol-ethanol blend.
India currently mandates a nationwide sale of E20 (20% ethanol-blended) petrol, and wants to push that proportion higher to reduce crude imports.The demand uncertainty for flex-fuel vehicles poses a real storage problem for flex fuels. High ethanol blends, if left sitting too long in storage, can absorb moisture and potentially damage or corrode engines, said the first of the three persons cited above, who is an oil marketing company executive.“They (stocks of fuel with high ethanol blends) have to be kept rolling, otherwise the ethanol picks up moisture and turns hygroscopic,” this person added.For automakers, however, certainty on the supply of flex fuels across the country is essential to build demand for flex-fuel vehicles, which will also compete with vehicles operating on other fuels.
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