Car makers not ready for more ethanol

Manufacturers say that greater ethanol content will have little impact on new generation engines

The proposed blending of 10 per cent ethanol in petrol will trigger forced changes to rubber parts in engines that are not compatible with alcohol-based fuel. Natural rubber used in engines will degrade over time because of ethanol, say automobile companies.

To reduce India’s oil imports the central government is pushing for higher use of ethanol, a byproduct of sugarcane, in petrol. The plan to hike the ethanol content to 10 per cent from 3 per cent has been in the works since 2008. The National Democratic Alliance government is expediting the process.

Makers of petrol-powered cars and two- and three-wheelers say a higher ethanol content will have a greater impact on vehicles built five years ago.

Not all manufacturers are ready for the change. Maruti Suzuki and Honda have made their cars E10 compliant but others, including Tata Motors, are not ready yet. "We are working on it and soon as it is mandated we will ensure we are ready," says Girish Wagh, vice-president and head of the car business unit at Tata Motors.

Ethanol contains less energy than petrol, and ethanol-blended petrol has a lower clean burning level than standard petrol. Therefore, vehicles will need slightly larger fuel tanks and other modifications.

"To comment on the proposal we must know all aspects of it in detail, ranging from maintainability of existing vehicles to emission norms for new vehicles. All we can say at this moment is E10 is feasible. We must acknowledge that such blending offers several advantages for our environment and for our country," says Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto.

The government is going a step forward to achieve the target of 20 per cent ethanol blending by 2017. Vehicles in Brazil run on 100 per cent ethanol, but in Zimbabwe Nissan’s cars were damaged with E15.

In addition to rubber, car makers will have to consider corrosion of aluminium by ethanol, which has high water content. Some car makers like Maruti Suzuki has been selling aluminium engines for the past four years.

C V Raman, executive director for engineering at Maruti Suzuki, said: “Our vehicles are already E10 compliant. To comply with Ethanol 20, engines, fuel systems and hoses will need changes. Ethanol is hygroscopic and makes metal parts liable to rust. Many elastomers are also not compatible with ethanol, and with higher ethanol content, the raw material for hoses and metal pipes will need to be upgraded. With E20, some specific parts of the engines like pistons, piston rings and valves may need to be modified. From the customer perspective, the higher ethanol content will also has an adverse impact on fuel consumption.”

Inadequate supply of ethanol due to production constraints has held up the government’s plan to increase its blending in petrol. However, the government is now open to importing ethanol.

Vishnu Mathur, director-general of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, said: “We welcome the government's move to hike the ethanol content in petrol and up to 10 per cent blending should be manageable. But the content should not vary too much. Once you have a content of, say, E15 then it should be uniform across the country else there should be proper marking at petrol pumps disclosing the content level.”
EMBRACING ETHANOL

• To reduce India’s oil imports, the central government is pushing for higher use of ethanol, a byproduct of sugarcane, in petrol
• Natural rubber used in engines will degrade over time because of ethanol, say automobile companies
• The plan to hike the ethanol content to 10% from 3% has been in the works since 2008. Now the NDA govt is expediting the process
• Although Maruti Suzuki and Honda have made their cars E10 compliant but others, including Tata Motors, are not yet ready
• Vehicles in Brazil run on 100 per cent ethanol, but in Zimbabwe Nissan’s cars were damaged with E15