Brazil Flexible-fuel technology started being developed by Brazilian engineers near the end of the 1990s. The Brazilian flexible fuel car is built with an ethanol-ready engine and one fuel tank for both fuels. The small gasoline reservoir for starting the engine in cold weather, used in earlier
neat ethanol vehicles, was kept to avoid start up problems in the central and southern regions, where winter temperatures normally drop below . Another improvement was the reduction of fuel consumption and tailpipe emissions, between 10% and 15% as compared to flex motors sold in 2008. A key innovation in the Brazilian flex technology was avoiding the need for an additional dedicated sensor to monitor the ethanol-gasoline mix, which made the first American
M85 flex fuel vehicles too expensive. Brazilian flex cars are capable of running on just
hydrated ethanol (E100), or just on a blend of gasoline with 25 to 27% anhydrous ethanol (the mandatory blend), or on any arbitrary combination of both fuels. The flexibility of Brazilian FFVs empowers the consumers to choose the fuel depending on current market prices. As ethanol
fuel economy is lower than gasoline because of ethanol's energy content is close to 34% less per unit volume than gasoline, flex cars running on ethanol get a lower mileage than when running on pure gasoline. However, this effect is partially offset by the usually lower price per liter of ethanol fuel. As a
rule of thumb, Brazilian consumers are frequently advised by the media to use more alcohol than gasoline in their mix only when ethanol prices are 30% lower or more than gasoline, as ethanol price fluctuates heavily depending on the result of seasonal sugar cane harvests. ethanol (
E100) and
E20-E25 gasoline In March 2003
Volkswagen do Brasil launched in the market the
Gol 1.6 Total Flex, the first commercial flexible fuel vehicle capable of running on any blend of gasoline and ethanol.
GM do Brasil followed three months later with the
Chevrolet Corsa 1.8 Flexpower, using an engine developed by a joint-venture with Fiat called PowerTrain. Passenger flex-fuel vehicles became a commercial success in the country, and , a total of 15 car manufacturers produce flex-fuel engines for the Brazilian market, dominating all light vehicle segments except sports cars, off-road vehicles and minivans. At the end of 2012 registrations of flex-fuel cars and light trucks represented 87% of all passenger and light duty vehicles sold in the country in 2012, and climbed to a 94%
market share of all new passenger vehicles sales in 2013. Production passed the 20 million-unit mark in June 2013. By the end of 2014, flex-fuel cars represented 54% of the Brazilian registered stock of light-duty vehicles, while gasoline only vehicles represented 34.3%. , flex-fuel light-duty vehicle sales totaled 25.5 million units. The
market share of flex vehicles reached 88.6% of all light-duty registrations in 2017. , fifteen years after the launch of the first flex fuel car, there were 30.5 million flex cars and light trucks registered in the country, and 6 million flex motorcycles. The rapid success of flex vehicles was made possible by the existence of 33,000 filling stations with at least one ethanol pump available by 2006, a heritage of the early
Pró-Álcool ethanol program. These facts, together with the mandatory use of
E25 blend of gasoline throughout the country, According to two separate research studies conducted in 2009, at the national level 65% of the flex-fuel registered vehicles regularly used ethanol fuel, and the usage climbed to 93% in
São Paulo, the main ethanol producer state where local taxes are lower, and prices at the pump are more competitive than gasoline. However, as a result of higher ethanol prices caused by the
Brazilian ethanol industry crisis that began in 2009, combined with government subsidies to keep gasoline price lower than the international market value, by November 2013 only 23% flex-fuel car owners were using ethanol, down from 66% in 2009. One of the latest innovation within the Brazilian flexible-fuel technology is the development of flex-fuel
motorcycles. The first flex-fuel motorcycle was launched by
Honda in March 2009, the
CG 150 Titan Mix. In September 2009, Honda launched a second flexible-fuel motorcycle, the on-off-road
NXR 150 Bros Mix. By December 2012 the five available models of flexible-fuel motorcycles from Honda and Yamaha reached a cumulative production of 2,291,072 units, representing 31.8% of all motorcycles manufactured in Brazil since 2009, and 48.2% of motorcycle production in 2012. The 4 million mark was reached in March 2015.
Europe Sweden Flexible-fuel vehicles were introduced in Sweden as a demonstration test in 1994, when three
Ford Taurus were imported to show the technology existed. Because of the existing interest, a project was started in 1995 with 50 Ford Taurus E85 flexifuel in different parts of Sweden:
Umeå,
Örnsköldsvik,
Härnösand,
Stockholm,
Karlstad,
Linköping, and
Växjö. From 1997 to 1998 an additional 300 Taurus were imported, and the number of E85 fueling grew to 40. Then in 1998 the city of Stockholm placed an order for 2,000 of FFVs for any car manufacturer willing to produce them. The objective was to jump-start the FFV industry in Sweden. The two domestic car makers
Volvo Group and
Saab AB refused to participate arguing there were not in place any ethanol filling stations. However,
Ford Motor Company took the offer and began importing the flexifuel version of its
Focus model, delivering the first cars in 2001, and selling more than 15,000 FFV Focus by 2005, then representing an 80% market share of the flexifuel market. In 2007, Saab also started selling a BioPower version of its popular
Saab 9-3 line. In 2008 the Saab-derived
Cadillac BLS was introduced with E85 compatible engines, and Volvo launched the
V70 with a 2.5-litre turbocharged Flexifuel engine. SportCombi BioPower. The second
E85 model introduced by Saab in the Swedish market in 2007. All flexible-fuel vehicles in Sweden use an E75 winter blend instead of E85 to avoid engine starting problems during cold weather. As of 2008 a total of 70% of all flexifuel vehicles operating in the EU were registered in Sweden. The recent and accelerated growth of the Swedish fleet of E85 flexifuel vehicles is the result of the National Climate Policy in Global Cooperation Bill passed in 2005, which not only ratified the
Kyoto Protocol but also sought to meet the
2003 EU Biofuels Directive regarding targets for use of
biofuels, and also let to the 2006 government's commitment to eliminate oil imports by 2020. was one of the first E85 flexible fuel cars available in the country produced by a Swedish automaker. The Volvo FlexiFuel is now offered on the European market. In order to achieve these goals several government incentives were implemented. Ethanol, as the other biofuels, was exempted of both, the CO2 and energy taxes until 2009, resulting in a 30% price reduction at the pump of E85 fuel over gasoline. Furthermore, other demand side incentives for flexifuel vehicle owners include a bonus to buyers of FFVs, exemption from the
Stockholm congestion tax, up to 20% discount on auto insurance, free parking spaces in most of the largest cities, owner annual registration taxes, and a 20% tax reduction for flexifuel company cars. Also, a part of the program, the Swedish Government ruled that 25% of their vehicle purchases (excluding police, fire and ambulance vehicles) must be alternative fuel vehicles. By the first months of 2008, this package of incentives resulted in sales of flexible-fuel cars representing 25% of new car sales. In addition, this law also mandated all new filling stations to offer alternative fuels, and stations with an annual volume of more than one million liters are required to have an alternative fuel pump by December 2009. Therefore, the number of E85 pumps is expected to reach by 2009 nearly 60% of Sweden's 4,000 filling stations.
Other European countries Flexifuel vehicles are sold in 18 European countries, including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Ford, Volvo and Saab are the main automakers offering flexifuel autos in the region.
France Biofuel cars in general get strong tax incentives in France, including a 0 or 50% reduction on the tax on new vehicles, and a 40% reduction on CO2 tax for new cars. For company cars there is a corporate car tax free for two years and a recovery of 80% of the
value added tax (VAT) on E85 vehicles. even though the government made plans for the installation of up to 500 E85 pumps by year end 2007. and with 219 stations as of September 2008, Germany ranks second after Sweden with the most E85 fueling stations in the
EU. As of July 2012 retail prices of E85 was €1.09 per liter, and gasoline was priced at €1.60 per liter (for gasoline RON 95), then providing enough margin to compensate for ethanol's lower fuel economy. Since 2011,
Dacia offers the
Logan MCV with a 1.6l 16v flexfuel engine.
Ireland Ireland is the third best seller European market of E85 flex-fuel vehicles, after Sweden and France. Bioethanol (E85) in Ireland is made from
whey, a waste product of
cheese manufacturing. In October 2005, the 1.8 Ford Focus FFV became the first flexible-fuel vehicle to be commercially sold in Ireland. Later Ford launched the
C-max and the Mondeo flexifuel models. Saab and Volvo also have E85 models available.
Spain The first flexifuel vehicles were introduced in Spain by late 2007, with the acquisition of 80 cars for use in the Spaniard official government fleet. At that time the country had only three gas stations selling
E85, making necessary to deploy an official E85 fueling station in
Madrid to attend these vehicles. Despite the introduction in the Spaniard market of several flexifuel models, by the end of 2008 still persists the problems of adequate E85 fueling infrastructure, as only 10 gas stations were selling E85 fuel to the public in the entire country.
United Kingdom The UK government established several incentives for E85 flex-fuel vehicles. These include a fuel duty rebate on E85 fuel of 20
p per liter, until 2010; a
£10 to 15 reduction in the
vehicle excise duty (VED); and a 2% annual company car tax discount for flex-fuel cars. Despite the small number of E85 pump stations available, limited to the
Morrisons supermarket chain stations, Volvo now offers its flexifuel models
S80,
S40,
C30,
V50 and
V70. Other models available in the UK are the Ford C-Max Flexi-Fuel, and the Saab models
9-5 and
9-3 Flex-Fuel Biopower, and the new
Saab Aero X BioPower
E100 bioethanol. Despite being introduced around a decade ago, E85 is no longer commercially available in the UK
United States , there were more than 21 million E85 flex-fuel vehicles in the United States, up from about 11 million flex-fuel cars and light trucks in operation as of early 2013. The number of flex-fuel vehicles on U.S. roads increased from 1.4 million in 2001, to 4.1 million in 2005, and rose to 7.3 million in 2008. Actual consumption of E85 among flex-fuel vehicle owners is limited. Nevertheless, the
U.S. Department of Energy estimated that in 2011 only 862,837 flex-fuel fleet-operated vehicles were regularly fueled with E85. As a result, from all the ethanol fuel consumed in the country in 2009, only 1% was E85 consumed by flex-fuel vehicles. The E85 blend is used in gasoline engines modified to accept such higher concentrations of ethanol, and the fuel injection is regulated through a dedicated sensor, which automatically detects the amount of ethanol in the fuel, allowing to adjust both fuel injection and spark timing accordingly to the actual blend available in the vehicle's tank. Because ethanol contains close to 34% less energy per unit volume than gasoline, E85 FFVs have a lower mileage per gallon than gasoline. where temperatures fall below during the winter. Some critics have argued that American automakers have been producing E85 flex models motivated by a loophole in the
Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requirements, that allows for a fuel economy credit for every flex-fuel vehicle sold, whether or not in practice these vehicles are fueled with E85. This loophole might allow the car industry to meet the CAFE targets in fuel economy just by spending between and that it cost to turn a conventional vehicle into a flex-fuel, without investing in new technology to improve fuel economy, and saving them the potential fines for not achieving that standard in a given model year. The CAFE standards proposed in 2011 for the period 2017–2025 will allow flexible-fuel vehicles to receive extra credit but only when the carmakers present data proving how much E85 such vehicles have actually consumed. LT A major restriction hampering sales of E85 flex vehicles, or fueling with E85, is the limited infrastructure available to sell E85 to the public with only 2% of the motor fuel stations offering E85 by March 2014. while about 156,000 retail motor fuel outlets do not offer any ethanol blend. In addition, there has been a great concentration of E85 stations in the
Corn Belt states. The main constraint for a more rapid expansion of E85 availability is that it requires dedicated storage tanks at filling stations, The
Obama Administration set the goal of installing 10,000 blender pumps nationwide until 2015, and to support this target the
US Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a rule in May 2011 to include flexible fuel pumps in the
Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). This ruling will provide financial assistance to fuel station owners to install E85 and blender pumps.
Flex fuel conversion kit A flex fuel conversion kit is a kit that allows a conventional equipment manufactured vehicle to be altered to operate on propane, natural gas, methane gas, ethanol, or electricity are classified as aftermarket AFV conversions. All vehicle conversions, except those that are completed for a vehicle to run on electricity, must meet current applicable U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards.
Latest developments In 2008, Ford delivered the first flex-fuel
plug-in hybrid as part of a demonstration project, a
Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid capable of running on E85 or gasoline.
General Motors do Brasil announced that it will import from five to ten Volts to Brazil during the first semester of 2011 as part of a demonstration and also to lobby the federal government to enact financial incentives for
green cars. If successful, GM would adapt the Volt to operate on
ethanol fuel, as most new cars sold in Brazil are flex-fuel. Flexfuel
Ford Escape In 2008, Chrysler, General Motors, and Ford pledged to manufacture 50 percent of their entire vehicle line as flexible fuel in model year 2012, if enough fueling infrastructure develops. The
Open Fuel Standard Act (OFS), introduced to Congress in May 2011, is intended to promote a massive adoption of flex-fuel vehicles capable of running on ethanol or methanol. The bill requires that 50 percent of automobiles made in 2014, 80 percent in 2016, and 95 percent in 2017, would be manufactured and warranted to operate on non-petroleum-based fuels, which includes existing technologies such as flex-fuel,
natural gas,
hydrogen,
biodiesel,
plug-in electric and
fuel cell. , almost half of new vehicles produced by Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors are flex-fuel, meaning roughly one-quarter of all new vehicles sold by 2015 are capable of using up to E85. However, obstacles to widespread use of E85 fuel remain. A 2014 analysis by the
Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) found that oil companies prevent or discourage affiliated retailers from selling E85 through rigid franchise and branding agreements, restrictive supply contracts, and other tactics. The report showed independent retailers are five times more likely to offer E85 than retailers carrying an oil company brand.
Other countries Australia In January 2007
GM brought UK-sourced
Saab 9-5 Biopower E85 flex-fuel vehicles to Australia as a trial, in order to measure interest in ethanol-powered vehicles in the country. Saab Australia placed the vehicles with the fleets of the
Queensland Government, the media, and some ethanol producers. E85 is not available widely in Australia, but
the Manildra Group provided the E85 blend fuel for this trial. Saab Australia became the first car maker to produce an E85 flex-fuel car for the Australian market with the Saab 9-5 BioPower. One month later launched the new
9-3 BioPower, the first vehicle in Australia to give drivers a choice of three fuels, E85, diesel or gasoline, and both automobiles are sold for a small premium. Australia's largest independent fuel retailer,
United Petroleum, announced plans to install Australia's first commercial E85 fuel pumps, one in
Sydney and one in
Melbourne.
GM Holden, the
Victorian state government,
Coskata,
Caltex, Veolia Environmental Services and
Mitsui have announced a consortium with a co-ordinated plan to build a bio-ethanol plant from household waste for use as E85 fuel. In August 2010 Caltex launched the
E85 ethanol fuel called Bio E-Flex, designed for use in the
Holden Commodore VE Series II flex-fuel vehicles to be released later in 2010. Caltex Australia plans to begin selling Bio E-Flex in Melbourne from September and expects to have Bio E-Flex available in more than 30 service stations in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra by the end of October, with plans to increase to 100 metropolitan and regional locations in 2011.
Canada As part of the North American auto market, by 2007 Canada had available 51 models of E85 flex-vehicles, most from Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, including automobiles, pickup trucks, and
SUVs. The country had around 1.6 million capable flex fuel E85s on the roads by 2014. However, most users are not aware they own an E85, as vehicles are not clearly labeled as such, and even though the newer models have a yellow cap in the fuel tank informing that the vehicle can handle E85, most users are still not aware because there are very few gas stations offering E85. E85 fueling is available primarily for fleet vehicles, including 20 government refueling stations not available for the public. The main feedstocks for E85 production in Canada are
corn and
wheat,
Colombia In March 2009 the
Colombian government enacted a mandate to introduce
E85 flexible-fuel cars. The executive decree applies to all gasoline-powered vehicles with engines smaller than 2.0 liters manufactured, imported, and commercialized in the country beginning in 2012, mandating that 60% of such vehicles must have flex-fuel engines capable of running with gasoline or E85, or any blend of both. By 2014 the mandatory quota is 80% and it will reach 100 percent by 2016. All vehicles with engines bigger than 2.0 liters must be E85 capable starting in 2013. The decree also mandates that by 2011 all gasoline stations must provide infrastructure to guarantee availability of E85 throughout the country. The mandatory introduction of E85 flex-fuels has caused controversy among carmakers, car dealers, gasoline station owners, and even some ethanol producers complained the industry is not ready to supply enough ethanol for the new E85 fleet.
India Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has emphasised the adoption of alternative fuels which will be import substitutes, cost-effective, pollution-free, indigenous, and discourage the use of Petrol or diesel. During an event held on 20 October 2021, while addressing the media and journalists he has said that the government will ask all vehicle manufacturers to make flex-fuel engines under the Euro VI emission norms in the next six-eight months. Flex-fuel, or flexible fuel, is an alternative fuel made of a combination of gasoline and methanol or ethanol. Mr. Gadkari has predicted that in the next 15 years, Indian automobile industry will be worth Rs 15 lakh crore and the Government is planning to submit an affidavit in the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India to allow manufacturing of flex-fuel engines under the Euro IV emission norms but for now he said that the Indian Government will ask all vehicle manufacturers to make flex-fuel engines (that can run on more than one fuel) under the Euro VI emission norms in the next 6–8 months.
New Zealand In 2006 New Zealand began a pilot project with two E85 Ford Focus Flexi-Fuel evaluation cars. The main feedstock used in New Zealand for ethanol production is
whey, a by-product of
milk production.
Paraguay Government officials and businessmen from
Paraguay began negotiations in 2007 with Brazilian automakers in order to import flex cars that run on any blend of gasoline and ethanol. If successful, Paraguay would become the first destination for Brazilian flex-fuel car exports. In May 2008, the Paraguayan government announced a plan to eliminate import taxes of flex-fuel vehicles and an incentive program for ethanol production. The plan also includes the purchase of 20,000 flex cars in 2009 for the government fleet.
Thailand In 2006, tax incentives were established in
Thailand for the introduction of
compressed natural gas (CNG) as an
alternative fuel, by eliminating import duties and lowering excise taxes on CNG-compatible cars. Then in 2007, Thai authorities approved incentives for the production of "eco-cars", with the goal of the country to become a regional hub for the production of small, affordable and fuel-efficient cars. Seven automakers joint in the program,
Toyota,
Suzuki,
Nissan,
Mitsubishi,
Honda,
Tata and
Volkswagen. This new plan however, brought confusion and protests by the automakers which sign-up for the "eco-cars", as competition with the E85 flex-fuel cars will negatively affect their ongoing plans and investments, and their production lines will have to be upgraded at a high cost for them to produce flex-fuel cars. Despite the controversy, the first E85 flexible fuel vehicles were introduced in November 2008. The first two models available in the Thai market were the
Volvo S80 and the
C30. The S80 is manufactured locally and the C30 is imported. By the time of the introduction of flex vehicles there were already two gas stations with E85 fuel available. During 2009 it was expected that 15 fueling stations in
Bangkok will have E85 fuel available. In October 2009 the
Mitsubishi Lancer Ex was launched becoming the first mass-production E85 flexi-fuel vehicle produced in Thailand.
Comparison among the leading markets == List of currently produced flexible-fuel vehicles ==