[anjan_c2007]

Mr Gadkari the Union Transport Minister says that India will soon have cars that run on 100 % ethanol fuel. A Toyota Camry powered by ethanol will soon be launched by August 2023 in India according to Mr Gadkari. This car will also generate 40 % electricity as per the words of the Hon'ble Minister but details about the Camry's ethanol drinking habit and generation of 40 % electricity from Day One by the same car are not yet known.

https://www.news18.com/amp/auto/indi...ource=inshorts

We have plug in EV's, hybrids, flexi fuel (on the cards) cars. But EV four wheelers in all sold 40,000 plus units in India during 2022-23.

And coming to the new Toyota Camry E 100, even the ICE powered Camry has struggled to sell here always, though it has forever remained in the list of Top 5 best selling sedans in the US.

These pronouncements and launches it is believed are nothing but vibes to seek attention of the public.

[madhukarmohan]

I think his intention is just to refrain people from buying diesel vehicles and to catch the attention of public. Decisions like this without enough resources and other requirements do not make sense and have lot of repercussions.

[shankar.balan]

I am completely at a loss for words at these sensational statements.
Draconian and ill thought through policies.
There is nothing more to be said.
Just use our cars till they get poisoned by this sugarcane juice.
And then start cycling or walking.
Or simply emigrate.

[Reinhard]

Maybe tomorrow he'll say that we'll have NASCAR like racing events also in India, given that we will also be using 100% Ethanol, like they do in the stock car racing arena. While I'm joking - he may actually say it, given he seems to also promise travel from any city to any city in 3 hours by road, with speed limits of 30-50-80 in place . So reality check isn't a prerequisite evidently.

I can't recollect a minister of such an important ministry making absolutely random public statements so frequently. Couple it with serious shortcomings in the quality of work / lack of work altogether from his departments in my part of the country - its quite a sad sight.

I hope the ministry is actually doing a lot of work in the field of transportation. Casual statements bordering on stupidity will work quite a bit in undermining the good work elsewhere.

[el lobo 6061]

Govt of India intention is to completely stop import of crude oil for petrol & diesel. As that is where most of the foreign exchange goes away.

Only safe bet today seems to be electric cars.

No hassle of ethanol blending issues.

[fhdowntheline]

I cant imagine what will happen to the water table of the country if so much ethanol is being used ( assuming most of it is sugarcane based)

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

I cant imagine what will happen to the water table of the country if so much ethanol is being used ( assuming most of it is sugarcane based)

Can we realistically even make the amount of ethanol locally - to replace the entire volume of petrol/diesel that is used for passenger vehicles to begin with? Assuming there is an idea to replace petrol/diesel engines with Ethanol ones.

Then - we'll be left with 2 wheelers that will need petrol. Will the much reduced demand of petrol keep the fuel stations income sustained? What about the additional costs of setting up ethanol storage & dispensing in those stations, while also selling petrol?
If petrol-diesel will still be sold (and it will have to be) - its even weirder to bring an additional type of fuel and its associated logistics.

Its all unrealistic to be to be honest. Any smart country right now - will continue to burn Euro6/BS6 or better petrol-diesel and then transition to a mode of transport without internal combustion (EV/HFC/H). Personally I find further contraptions of internal combustion engines to be a waste of time, resources & a lot of additional pollution.

[Eddy]

He isn't saying 100% cars to be run on Ethanol. Maybe one or two that will run on 100% ethanol. Let them experiment.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

I cant imagine what will happen to the water table of the country if so much ethanol is being used ( assuming most of it is sugarcane based)

Was about to say exactly that. Sugarcane as a water intensive ‘standing crop’ requires far more fresh water resources than we have. So it is a stupid idea to push this ethanol nonsense to please the all powerful sugarcane lobby. Same parallel with the corn lobby in the US.

[Samba]

When the canes from the strong lobby hits hard, these sugar coated (pun intended) ideas are bound to see the daylight!

[rishi.roger]

If getting rid of Petrol/Diesel based engines were so easy, it would have happened long time back.
India doesn't really have enough options other than using fossil fuels for transport (even the EVs draw their power indirectly from it, so they pollute but just not locally rather at source and disposal).
There are far too many issues to address and remediate starting with population, mentality, affordability. A good chunk of people don't even bother getting their vehicles fixed regardless of how polluting they're, and most of it has to do with cost and the mentality it has built over time.
These things might see light of day but only for a very minute fraction of society. Its not going to make any dent unless its for masses, and the way I see it..we're faar away from getting rid of ICE vehicles.
It would be worth and cost effectice, practical to invest in better public transportation in my opinion rather than trying crazy solutions.

[SafariMan]

And nobody is still thinking on lines of a safe hydrogen powered car. If converting all ICT cars to EV cars leading to more pollution due to mining lithium, etc is not serious enough...source https://theprint.in/opinion/dashboar...onger/1622448/

Comes this foolery.

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by SafariMan

And nobody is still thinking on lines of a safe hydrogen powered car.

There are problems with Hydrogen Fuel Cell cars that I had not even imagined yet but is shown in the video.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=N1dveN6OeFA?feature=share

I thought CNG cars were impractical and ate up boot space and then I saw this video of the Toyota Mirai's interior. I never knew that the Hydrogen tanks were eating up space in the Mirai's passenger compartment ! I mean, it is a YouTube short, just have a look.

Anyone and everyone advocating Hydrogen combustion engines, the situation will be even worse since the efficiency of the fuel cell is 2x of the combustion engine so it will either have an even cramped interior or half the tank range. This with the added drawback of NOx emissions and added costs of a cooling system and a gearbox. It's just a lose lose lose situation.

We might as well use Ethanol instead which will probably not solve the Climate Change problem but at least give us back some interior space and tank range. Or maybe it will solve the climate change problem. The CO2 released by Ethanol is carbon that was already in the atmosphere and was converted to Ethanol using plant matter which got theirs using Photosynthesis from the atmosphere (like a carbon capture machine). So technically it is not new buried carbon that was trapped deep in the earth's crust. It was already there.

And anyways, the countries that did experiment with high Ethanol fuels like E85 had separate pumps for it and the regular stuff. If we also get that, at least (maybe) more and more Ethanol in the regular fuels won't be shoved down our throats.

[shortbread]

Originally Posted by SafariMan

And nobody is still thinking on lines of a safe hydrogen powered car. If converting all ICT cars to EV cars leading to more pollution due to mining lithium, etc is not serious enough...source https://theprint.in/opinion/dashboar...onger/1622448/

Comes this foolery.

Hydrogen cars are not practical due to the inherent properties of the gas. CVs yes, immense potential there, cars are a no-no.

[anjan_c2007]

There is an ethanol lobby at work. Their dream is to become Ethanol Sheikhs and create an "Organisation of Ethanol Exporting Countries" (OEEC).

The OEEC to start with, could be 10 % as powerful as OPEC , rising to 20 % by 2025. And then as the decades go by, the "powerful" figure could reach 100% to overwhelm OPEC.