SIAM pushes for enhanced alternative fuels penetration amid focus on electric vehicles

Automobile industry body SIAM has proposed making petrol-powered two-wheelers and passenger vehicles material compatible with 10 per cent ethanol (E10) and 3 per cent methanol (M3) blends by 2025.

In a white paper on 'Alternative Fuels for Vehicles' released recently, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) also said that by 2030, the auto industry could make specific vehicles compatible with 20 per cent ethanol (E20)-blended gasoline depending upon sustained availability of fuels with separately labelled dispensing at fuel stations.

While electrification of fleet will be a major help towards providing energy security and improving environment, SIAM said that "India needs to work on other efforts, to not only complement this effort, considering the ultimate objective of improving India's energy security".

With a requisite policy push and infrastructure development, to be done as an enabler of fuel diversification effort by the government, the automotive industry aims to achieve substantial penetrations of alternative fuel vehicles, it added.

Besides ethanol blends, four-wheeler industry would benefit from the increased reach of CNG infrastructure, driving sales of CNG vehicles to save CO2 as well as reduce import bill, it said.

For three-wheelers, CNG penetration can be increased and by 2030, the gasoline-powered vehicles could be made specifically to be compatible with E20 and diesel vehicles with B7 (7 per cent biodiesel), depending upon the sustained availability of fuels, it added.

In case of diesel-driven passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles (LCVs) and heavy commercial vehicles (HCVs), industry could make vehicles compatible with B7 bio-diesel blends by 2020, SIAM said in the white paper.

Spelling out targets, SIAM said, "For gasoline-powered two-wheelers and passenger vehicles, industry will endeavour to make vehicles material compatible with 10 per cent ethanol (E10) and 3 per cent methanol (M3) blends by 2025."
Further, it said, "By 2030, industry could make specific vehicles compatible with 20 per cent ethanol (E20)-blended gasoline depending upon sustained availability of the fuels with separately labelled dispensing at fuel stations."