E20 Petrol May Damage Rubber Components In E10 Vehicles: ARAI Report

E20 petrol could damage rubber components in the engine compartment in vehicles certified to run on E10 fuels, a study by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has found. The ARAI study which was carried out before E20 rollout stated that rubber parts such as hoses, gaskets, seals and O-rings in E10 compliant vehicles could be affected by 20% ethanol blended petrol. However, the study has noted that metal parts and metal coatings will not be affected by E20. The study has not been made available to the public.

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Old ARAI Report Flagged E20 Concerns

According to a report in the Times of India, the study found that E10 engines were durability tested to study the impact of E20 fuels and found to offer acceptable performance. The study, however, highlighted an issue observed with BS6-compliant turbocharged engines after 265 hours of durability testing.

The engine durability study was carried out by two unnamed OEMs, with the first reporting no issues with the engine after 400 hours of testing while the second reported a thermomechanical failure of the exhaust valve after a little over 800 hours of testing. The TOI report, however, cited sources saying that the component failure could have been due to other factors and that engine durability tests generally occurred over 2,000 hours.

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Tests carried out by three two-wheeler OEMs on E10-compatible vehicles reportedly showed no adverse impact on metallic components or the vehicle itself, with emissions also falling within required limits. The ARAI report also cited a 2 to 6 per cent increase in fuel consumption in vehicles compared to E10.

car&bike reached out to SIAM for comments on the study and its findings, though the body has declined to comment on the matter.

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Auto Makers Now Back E20 Use

E20-compliant fuel has been on and off the news as people have raised questions around the use of the fuel in non-compliant vehicles. This has also been joined by reports of carmakers and insurance companies initially saying that the use of the fuel on non-compliant vehicles would void warranty and insurance cover before backtracking on the statements. In recent weeks, the government and multiple OEMs have come forward to back the use of E20 fuels in older vehicles, issuing statements stating that the fuel could be safely used in E10 vehicles without adverse effects.

Speaking on use of E20 in E10-compatible vehicles, Maruti Suzuki India Corporate Affairs Senior Executive Officer, Rahul Bharti in a recent press conference said, “We have sufficient factors of safety that ensure there is no problem in terms of wear and tear, corrosion, or damage to the life of the car or the parts that come in contact with the E20 fuel if E20 is used on cars that were produced and sold in India before 2023. As a manufacturer, we have tested E10 cars, which were prevalent before 2023, on E20 fuel for all parameters, and we have not found anything of concern.”

In a separate statement, Toyota India Country Head and Executive Vice President (Corporate Affairs and Governance), Vikram Gulati, said, “E20 is the standard fuel that will be available, and it is compatible with old vehicles and new vehicles. All vehicles sold after 1st of April 2023 are fully materially compliant with E20. And people need to be reassured that in 2021, before we went into E20, there was a very detailed scientific study done by the leading automobile testing agency in the country, which is ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India). It is clearly established that the possible damage to cars and two wheelers which are old is not there. It's very insignificant.”

2021 NITI Aayog Report Bats for E10 Petrol in Ethanol Roadmap

A 2021 Niti Aayog report has also been cited in recent news reports in which SIAM called for the availability of E10 petrol alongside E20 to cater to the lakhs of pre-2023 vehicles still plying on Indian roads. In the report, Niti Aayog had cited that the discontinuation of E10 petrol and solely offering higher blends of ethanol in petrol could make a large number of vehicles unusable in the coming years while also highlighting challenges in making older vehicles compatible with higher ethanol blends.

E20 petrol has also been the subject of judicial proceedings over the past year, including a PIL filed in the Supreme Court that was subsequently dismissed and the more recent court proceedings between Bharat Petroleum and an Ethanol supplier, where the Attorney General reportedly called the E20 roll out an experiment by the Government. The Press Information Bureau (PIB) later categorically denied that 20 per cent ethanol blended petrol, or E20 programme is an “ongoing experiment.” The PIB said that media reports misquoted submissions made by the Attorney General to the Supreme Court.