3 Flex Fuel Cars From Maruti Suzuki To Look Forward To
Maruti Suzuki is one of the largest car manufacturers in India. Maruti as a brand is known to cater to the needs of a variety of customers. They also listen to customers, notice market trends, and make changes to their line-up. One of the most discussed topics on the internet lately is the rising fuel prices, along with increasing ethanol blends and the introduction of E85 fuel. Maruti, like many brands, has considered flex-fuel options seriously, and they recently unveiled the same. Here we have a list of three Maruti Suzuki cars that are expected to be launched in the market with a flex-fuel option.
Flex fuel is an alternative fuel that blends traditional petrol with renewable biofuels, usually ethanol, which is derived from crops like sugarcane and corn. We currently get 20 percent ethanol-blended petrol from pumps across the country.
The government is slowly pushing towards increasing the blend to decrease imports and control rising fuel prices. E85 fuel was recently introduced, and it is currently being dispensed through select petrol pumps across the country.
The cars that are currently available in the market are actually compliant with E20 petrol. However, if the ethanol blend is increased, these engines cannot handle it, and it would result in damage to engine components. In order to make the engines compliant with flex fuel, brands have to make changes to the existing engine. To make the car compatible, the brand upgraded the fuel injectors and fuel pumps, added new fuel lines, installed a newly calibrated ECU, and included an ethanol sensor to detect the level of ethanol in the fuel.
Maruti recently showcased the WagonR Flex Fuel version in the market. It is actually based on the same WagonR that was already on sale. The only differentiating factors here are the Flex Fuel badges on the tailgate and other decals.
The car is based on the same 1.2-litre, 4-cylinder K12N-series engine. As mentioned above, Maruti has made changes to the engine components to make the car compatible. The car showcased recently is capable of running on E100, but it has currently been homologated for E85. It can essentially run on any ethanol blend from E20 to E100.
The Maruti Suzuki Fronx is also an extremely popular model in Maruti’s line-up, and since its launch, Maruti has sold over 5 lakh units of the Fronx in the market. Maruti is already working on a facelift for the Fronx, and the brand had also showcased a Flex Fuel version of the crossover last year in Japan.
The concept showcased was based on the non-turbo variant, which means it uses the same 1.2-litre 4-cylinder engine as the regular Fronx. Just like the WagonR, Maruti Suzuki would have made changes to the components to make it compliant. Just like the WagonR, the Fronx FFV is also capable of running on E100 but will be rated for E85 only.
Maruti might also bring a Flex Fuel version of the Baleno hatchback to the market. This hatchback also uses the same 1.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine as the Fronx and WagonR. This means Maruti will only have to make changes to the engine once, and they can easily install it in all the models that already use this engine. This way, Maruti won’t have to make any changes specifically for a single model.