Gadkari launches pilot project on Flexi-Fuel Strong Hybrid EV

Addressing the gathering, Gadkari said 6 to 8 percent increase in agricultural growth rate is necessary for AtmaNirbhar Bharat. He emphasised on importance of converting surplus foodgrain and sugar  into ethanol for boosting rural economy. Encouraging  'Anndatas' to become 'Urjadatas', The Minister said the success of this pilot project will create an ecosystem of electric vehicles and make New India, a global leader in the manufacture of these electric vehicles. He said such technologies are innovative, revolutionary, sustainable, cost-effective, energy-efficient and will completely transform the transportation sector in New India.

India has already achieved 10% ethanol blending five months ahead of schedule. The implementation of 20% ethanol blending in petrol by 2025-26 is expected to substitute 86 million barrels of gasoline, thereby leading to forex savings of Rs. 30,000 crore for India, as well as reducing 10 Million tons of carbon emissions. Given the huge potential of ethanol production that exists up to and beyond E20, these benefits can increase multi-fold with the introduction of Flexi Fuel Vehicle (FFV) technology, that can flexibly use higher ethanol blends from 20% to 85%.

Globally, many countries like Brazil have hugely benefited from large scale introduction of FFVs. In fact, in Brazil an innovative Flexi fuel-strong Hybrid electric vehicle technology (FFV - SHEV) has been introduced by Toyota Brazil, which has the lowest Well-to-Wheel (W2W) carbon emissions for any technology in the country.

An FFV– SHEV has a Flexi Fuel engine and an electric powertrain, thus providing dual benefit of higher ethanol use and greater fuel efficiency, as it can run for significant time periods on its EV mode, wherein the engine is shut off.

During the launch, the Toyota Corolla Altis FFV-SHEV, that has been imported from Toyota Brazil for the pilot project was unveiled. This initiative marks Toyota’s first step to promote and create awareness on ethanol as an important indigenous, carbon neutral energy pathway, along with the advanced Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicle technology of Toyota that can help India achieve true self-reliance, and contribute towards the national target of Carbon Net-Zero by 2070. Further, as a part of this project, collected data will be shared with the prestigious Indian Institute of Science, for conducting a deeper study about the well-to-wheel carbon emissions of FFV / FFV-SHEV in the Indian context. In this regard, a Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.