The adoption of flex-fuel or E85 vehicles has grown significantly over the past five months. An E85 vehicle can run on fuel containing up to 85% ethanol. According to the government's Vahan portal, a total of 7,742 E85 vehicles have been registered since June this year. Moreover, over the past three months, registrations have averaged more than 2,000 vehicles per month.
However, two-wheelers account for over 99% of the 7,742 E85 vehicle registrations. While registrations of flex-fuel two-wheelers have surged, flex-fuel cars have seen a poor pickup. According to Vahan data, Hero MotoCorp has recorded 7,685 registrations, while Yamaha has recorded 38 and Maruti Suzuki just 19.
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Registrations of flex-fuel vehicles have grown over the months, rising from just three in June to 231 in July. They then surged to 2,450 in August, followed by 2,271 in September and 2,617 in October. October has so far been the best month for flex-fuel vehicle registrations, also aided by the festive season.
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Among the top five states for E85 vehicle registrations, Rajasthan leads with 1,823 registrations, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 1,470. Bihar, Haryana and Delhi recorded 957, 575 and 472 registrations, respectively. Analysts believe further growth will depend on wider model availability and access to E85 fuel.
Kaushik Madhavan, VP and Head of Automotive Consulting at MarketsandMarkets, told NDTV Profit that apart from Hero MotoCorp, Yamaha and Maruti Suzuki, no other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have launched flex-fuel models.
“The primary reason for low sales volumes is the limited availability of models. Companies need to launch more flex-fuel vehicles in the short to medium term to drive adoption,” he said.
Madhavan also highlighted a combination of factors influencing consumer interest.
“A 20–25% price advantage in fuel is playing a significant role in consumer decision-making. While fuel efficiency is lower, the cheaper fuel helps offset this drawback, thus boosting two-wheeler sales,” he said.
Madhavan believes flex-fuel adoption is unlikely to have a significant impact on the four-wheeler segment in the near term.
“Car purchases are driven by factors such as vehicle pricing, total cost of ownership (TCO) and long-term running costs. The key roadblock remains inadequate fuel infrastructure and limited E85 availability,” he said.
Saket Mehra, Partner and Auto and EV Industry Leader at GT Bharat, told NDTV Profit that ethanol-based mobility is beginning to gain traction.
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“The notification of E100 reinforces that ethanol is evolving from a blending programme into a broader mobility strategy. However, affordability remains critical to mass adoption,” he said.
Mehra believes the next phase of growth will depend on whether OEMs can offer flex-fuel vehicles at a compelling price point while fuel infrastructure expands in parallel.
“Ultimately, the success of ethanol-based mobility will be determined not by policy ambition, but by its ability to deliver both sustainability and savings to the end consumer,” he said.
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