Flexible Fuel For Your Vehicle

As the name might suggest, a flexible fuel vehicle is one whose engine is powered by means other than the commonly used petroleum-based fuels – petrol and diesel. Typically relying on a combination of one of the above fuels and an alternative method of powering, the flexible – or “alternative” – fuel vehicle is gaining in popularity as a concept due to its potential to help reduce the impact on the environment from the automotive industry.

Though still in the early stages as far as honing the technology is concerned, alternative fuelling methods are inevitably going to continue playing a major part in the debates and discussions that will only increase as the human race looks for a way to go into the future in a cleaner, greener way. Most specifically, the concept of “hybrid” vehicles is one that is leading the way as far as alternative fuelling methods are concerned. Hybrid cars still rely on an internal combustion engine to get started, but benefit from electric power once on the move. Though still in its infancy, the hybrid vehicle is gaining in popularity and in use, and the Honda Insight hit the US market in 2006, notable for gaining 70 miles per gallon – a fuel efficiency level that we could only have dreamt of twenty years ago.

Flex-fuel vehicles differ from hybrids in that they use more than one kind of fuel, rather than using electric power. The combination of fuels generally occurs in the same petrol tank, and allows cars to use greener fuels such as ethanol, giving the vehicle a markedly smaller carbon footprint. Flexible fuel has not, yet, gained the same level of popularity as hybrid technology worldwide, but has been a notable success in Brazil, where President Luis Ignacio “Lula” da Silva has touted the benefits of cleaner energy. “Flex” vehicles, as they are known in Brazil, are recognizable by the word “Flex” on the bodywork and their yellow fuel caps that bear the legend “E85″. This is a reference to the fuel balance that drives the engine – a combination that features 85% ethanol and 15% petrol.

The US currently has the largest number of flex fuel vehicles, with a total of 6.8 million on the roads. However, many drivers do not realize their car is a flex-fuel vehicle due to a lack of consumer awareness and an equal lack of government promotion of the technology. Stations selling the combined fuel are also few and far between, giving the overall impression of an industry paying lip service to the technology without thinking about its implementation.

Given that flex, vehicles can run on 100% gasoline, the fact that they can be sold in America without the buyer knowing that they are flex-fuel means that many such vehicles are run as gas cars. This is in marked contrast to the E85 awareness in Brazil where it is now impossible to buy pure gasoline. The technology is easier to implement in a warmer climate, as ethanol’s alcohol content is prone to cold starting problems. Given, however, that the cars can run on different combinations, it is not impossible to see a time when flex-fuel vehicles are popular worldwide.

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