Union minister launches Toyota Innova MPV, world's first ethanol-fueled car

Nitin Gadkari unveiled the Innova MPV, which is the world's first car that runs completely on ethanol fuel. This is a government initiative to avoid dependency on petroleum imports

Road and Highway Minister, Nitin Gadkari launched Toyota Innova MPV, which is a 100 per cent ethanol variant, today, August 29. Innova MPV will be the world's first car that will run completely on ethanol.

Gadkari said that he started taking an interest in biofuels in the year 2004 when petrol prices surged in India, and he visited Brazil for this purpose. Gadkari further said that biofuels can do wonders and save foreign exchange that is being spent on petrol imports.

India's first ethanol vehicle

Nitin Gadkari announced that the electric flex-fuel Toyota Innova MPV will entirely run on Ethanol and it will be indicated by "E100". This is a government initiative to avoid dependency on petroleum imports.

 

Toyota confirms that the ethanol-fueled variant of Toyota is the World's first BS-VI (Stage-II) electrified flex-fuel vehicle. Ethanol is a domestically-produced transportation fuel made from biomass like corn or sugarcane. The best thing about ethanol is that it is renewable.

The Union Minister has been encouraging the automakers to come up with a fuel-powered alternative, consequently launching a hydrogen-powered car the previous year.

Why is the biofuel shift important for India?

India largely depends on the import of oil to meet its fuel requirement which impacts state coffers. Gadkari said currently the cost of India's imports is around Rs 16 lakh crore, shifting biofuel options such as ethanol, which is derived from plant-based sources like sugarcane, and oil import bills to make India self-reliant in its fuel needs.

The Road and Highway minister also talked about the harmful impact of chemical fertilisers and pesticides that can cause diseases like cancer. He also believes that organic farming will create wealth for India and help the nation move towards sustainability.

He further said that we need to educate people to change waste into wealth which can reduce the logistic cost to 9 per cent from 14 to 16 per cent at present with more highway construction.

Ethanol E85 across the Globe

The earliest use of Ethanol E85 was first seen in the United Kingdom where Saab launched Saab 9-5 Biopower which is a flex-fuel car launched in 2005. The car was running on either a high-blend mixture of petrol(E85) and bioethanol or just petrol without making any adjustments that the driver required.

After the lunch, the first Bio Ethanol E85 filling pump was opened in 2006, which is the UK's largest retailer of alternative fuels. However, the company closed all its pumps in 2010.

In 2007, US President George Bush committed to reducing America's dependence on oil with a 20 per cent cut in petrol use and switching to biofuel. In the year 2015, eight major manufacturers in the US started offering E85 compatible vehicles.

In October 2021, King Charles displayed his car, Aston Martin, which could be run on Bioethanol, which is made up of cheese and wine wastes.