India's automotive industry defends ethanol mandate amid backlash

Indian government officials and the auto industry defended their decision to roll out petrol with 20% ethanol on Saturday, saying that years of testing and service data had shown no evidence of widespread vehicle damage. This was despite concerns about lower fuel efficiency.

E20 fuel has been criticized on social media by motorists who are concerned that older vehicles, which were designed to run on lower ethanol blends, could suffer corrosion, wear, or reduced performance.

Maruti Suzuki and Hero MotorCorp, as well as Toyota?Kirloskar Motor, said that even older vehicles could run on E20. Maruti Suzuki, India's largest automaker, has said that it has serviced over 15 million older vehicles in the last two years, which were not certified for E20, and found no fuel-related issues.

Rahul Bharti (Maruti Suzuki senior executive officer of corporate affairs) said that the company had tested E10 vehicles, which were common before 2023, on E20 fuel.

E20's lower energy content reduces fuel economy by approximately 3-3.5%. Industry officials have acknowledged this minor trade-off. They said that the higher octane number of E20 fuel can help carmakers create future engines with higher compressive ratios. This could improve performance and torque.

Officials have also denied viral claims that E20 caused engine failures. They said at least one case widely reported was related to contaminated fuel rather than standard E20.

They added that E20 was?the highest ethanol mixture currently tested for regular gasoline vehicles and said that any move towards higher blends would require new trials. Reporting by Dhwani Paandya. Mark Potter (Editing)

(source: Reuters)