Revolutionary Maruti Suzuki Wagon R: India's First Mass-Produced Flex Fuel Car
Delhi : The Wagon R Flex Fuel prototype model was unveiled in Delhi by Maruti Suzuki, the country's largest automaker, as the country's first mass-market Flex Fuel vehicle. The vehicle, which can operate on any ethanol-petrol mixture between 20% (E20) and 85% (E85) of the fuel, was launched in front of Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways. The modified engine of the Wagon R Flex Fuel prototype car is built expressly to burn more petrol with added ethanol. According to Maruti Suzuki, the firm is developing a number of technologies, including electric, hybrid electric, CNG, biogas, ethanol, and flex-fuel. The company has also said that all of its product lines would be E20 fuel-compliant by March 2023.
New fuel system technology, such as heated fuel rail for cold start aid and ethanol sensor for ethanol percentage monitoring, have been developed to make the engine compatible with higher ethanol mixes (E20-E85). To assure the durability of the engine and the vehicle, additional components, such as the engine management system, updated fuel pumps, and fuel injectors, among others, have been designed.
Maruti Suzuki has created engine management system methods and an emission control system to conform to the strict BS6 Phase-II emission criteria in order to be in line with the most recent laws.
Maruti Suzuki has constantly associated itself with the national objectives of decreasing the weight of the country's oil imports and improving the environment, according to Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, who spoke at the event.
The Wagon R Flex Fuel prototype car, which was domestically designed and produced in India with assistance from SMC, Japan, inspires the government of India's "Make in India" initiatives.
Notably, a Wagon R Flex Fuel prototype running on E85 fuel would assist cut tailpipe GHG emissions by 79% compared to a Wagon R model running on regular gasoline while maintaining the same power output. The 'Roadmap for Ethanol Blending in India 2020–25', which elaborates on the strategy for production and consumption of ethanol for automotive application, also lists its advantages.
India is also the world's second-biggest exporter of sugar and its greatest producer and consumer. For an agricultural economy, ethanol produced by processing crop waste is excellent. Additionally, this gives the "Atmanirbhar Bharat" initiative momentum.
