A Renault owner recently wrote to the French carmaker about the government’s rollout of ethanol-blended petrol (E20). He wrote to the company’s India Customer Care team to check if his car was compatible with the new fuel, only to be advised against using it.

E20 in Renault Triber: Advisable or not?

“Renault advises against using E20 petrol in my 2022 car. What should I do now?” wrote Thakur on Twitter (now X), before adding, “This is a new car and we’ve done just 13,000 kilometres in 3 years.”

Thakur had purchased his Renault Triber in April 2022, when E10 fuel, petrol blended with 10% ethanol, was the standard. On August 24, he wrote to Renault seeking clarity, and the company responded today.

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“Thank you for writing to Renault India Customer Care,” the email, which began with greetings from Renault India, read. 

The company clarified that the 2022 Renault Triber had not been tested for compatibility with E20. “We acknowledge the receipt of your query regarding E20 Fuel. We would like to inform you that the Triber – 2022 has not been tested for compatibility with E20 fuel,” the email stated. 

The company went on to say, “The use of E20 fuel in your vehicle is not advisable.”

Petrol pump staff had no idea about E10 or E20

In a separate post earlier this month, Thakur claimed that he visited six petrol pumps in search of ethanol-free petrol for his three-year-old car. He was shocked to know that most staff at petrol pumps had little or no idea about ethanol blending. He then shared two conversations, which he thinks stood out from the rest. 

At an Indian Oil pump, he claimed to have come across the staff who had no idea about E10 or E20. When asked, one staffer reportedly replied, “If I knew all this, I’d have worked at the Indian Oil headquarters instead of this petrol pump.” 

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Thakur said he explained the difference between the fuels himself before opting for the slightly costlier one. He added, “I purchased the slightly more expensive XP95 petrol, although some reports suggest it also contains 20% ethanol.”

The Renault owner claimed that he came across HPCL’s official social media posts, which claimed that Power95 petrol contains only 15% ethanol. But when he asked the pump staff, they told him it had 20%. When he told them about the company’s social media post, he claimed that the staff showed him the sheets that had a stamp in black ink stating 20% ethanol. 

Renault issues statement

The company, in a statement to FinancialExpress.com, clarified the issues related to the use of E20 fuel in the vehicles. 

“A rigorous durability testing was conducted jointly by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and ARAI, involving various fuel combinations, including the use of E20 fuel in vehicles certified for E10,” the statement read. 

It added that the draft report of this study was shared with all OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), while acknowledging that the present on-road vehicles are compatible with E20, and concluded that there is no adverse impact from using E20 fuel in E10-compliant vehicles.

“Based on these findings, no serious challenges have been perceived in Renault cars plying on roads using E20 fuel in E10-compliant and tested vehicles,” the statement further clarified.

Govt on E20 fuel

The Centre introduced E20 fuel as part of its push to reduce dependence on oil imports, and inch closer to its Net Zero 2070 goal. The government also said that the initiative will support the farmers, who it says are now becoming “Urjadaatas” (energy providers) instead of just “Annadatas” (food providers). This, in turn, would strengthen the economy. 

According to the government, E20 not only improves acceleration and ride quality but also reduces carbon emissions by 30% compared to E10. This comes after the government said that the concerns around performance and mileage were anticipated in 2020 and think tank NITI Aayog examined these at length. 

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“The use of E-20 gives better acceleration, better ride quality and most importantly, lowered carbon emissions by approximately 30% as compared to E10 fuel. Ethanol’s higher-octane number (~108.5 compared to petrol’s 84.4) makes Ethanol-blended fuels a valuable alternative for higher-octane requirements that are crucial for modern high-compression engines…. Ethanol’s higher heat of vaporisation reduces intake manifold temperatures, increasing air-fuel mixture density and boosting volumetric efficiency,” the government explained on X (formerly Twitter). 

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) revealed that petrol in India already meets BS-VI norms with a RON (Research Octane Number) of 92, but blending with 20% ethanol improves this further to RON 95, giving better “anti-knocking properties and performance”.

MoPNG further said, “The critiques suggesting that E20 causes a ‘drastic’ reduction in fuel efficiency are misplaced. Vehicle mileage is influenced by a variety of factors beyond just fuel type. These include driving habits, maintenance practices such as oil changes and air filter cleanliness, tyre pressure and alignment, and even air conditioning load.”

The government said that taking a step back would mean losing “hard-fought gains on pollution”. The ministry pointed out that automakers had a four-year window to adjust vehicle technology and supply chains. 

“Brazil has been successfully running on E27 for years with zero issues. The same automakers such as Toyota, Honda, Hyundai etc, produce vehicles there too,” the government revealed, adding that there have been no drivability or material compatibility problems, except with some older models.

Talking about the cost of the fuel, the government explained that the ethanol procurement price has gone up, so blended fuels cannot be cheaper than standard petrol.

According to the official data, ethanol blending in petrol has already saved Rs 1.44 lakh crore in foreign exchange, replaced 245 lakh metric tonnes of crude oil, and reduced CO2 emissions by nearly 736 lakh metric tonnes. This is reportedly equivalent to planting 30 crore trees. At 20% ethanol blending, the government estimates that farmers will earn Rs 40,000 crore this year, while forex savings will hit Rs 43,000 crore.

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