India unveils BS-6 Stage-II 'electrified flex-fuel vehicle' prototype

India has recently unveiled a prototype of the BS-6 (Stage-II) electrified flex-fuel vehicle, which is said to run on 100% ethanol. The vehicle, a made-in-India Toyota Innova Hycross, is developed by Toyota Kirloskar Motor, and contains both a fuel flexible engine and an electric powertrain.

According to Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India, the electrified flex-fuel vehicle is based on the Innova Hycross, and is engineered to adhere to India's stricter greenhouse gas emission standards. He added that this is the world's first BS-6 (Stage-II) 'electrified flex-fuel vehicle' prototype.

An electrified flex-fuel vehicle has both a fuel-flexible engine and an electric powertrain. It combines the dual benefit of higher ethanol use and much higher fuel efficiency, thus providing 30-50% higher fuel efficiency as it can run 40-60% in EV mode with the engine shut off.

As per Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India, ethanol blending in India has increased by over eight times recently, from 1.53% in 2014 to around 11.5% in March this year, leading to savings in import bills and also lowering carbon emissions.