- Maruti Wagon R flex-fuel car launched, price undisclosed.
- Modified 1.2L petrol engine supports E85 fuel operation.
- E85 fuel rollout planned to reduce running costs.
The first Wagon R flex fuel car has been launched while no prices have been revealed yet. The Wagon R flex fuel could be initially available as a commercial car while private buyers would be able to buy soon once E85 fuel becomes more easily available.
The Wagon R flex fuel comes with a manual gearbox only and has no changes in the exterior with only a small badge change. The real changes lie on the inside with the engine having various changes to run on E85 fuel. Higher ethanol blends have more corrosion hence the cars have a different fuel tank, ECU and other changes.
The engine in question remains a 1.2 petrol with a manual gearbox.
E85 Fuel Rollout and Lower Running Costs
While the car is here, E85 fuel will require separate dispensers with 50 to 100 dispensing stations at the start while the number would grow to 5000 towards the end of next year. E85 fuel would also be cheaper than E20 which would mean lower running costs but efficiency would also be changed.
Maruti Suzuki has not revealed the fuel efficiency of the Wagon R flex fuel.
ALSO READ: Maruti Suzuki Sees 40 Per Cent Jump In CNG Bookings, Says Partho Banerjee
Government Push for Ethanol-Based Mobility
Both Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, and Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas highlighted the need of India reducing oil import and reducing pollution while using ethanol to lower emissions too while even diesel will soon have isobutanol blending.
This is to decrease our dependence on foreign energy and making India energy independent.
