Team-BHP - Impact of 20% ethanol petrol on current petrol engines

Here in NCR at least the E20 nozzles are different and have a small sign. But the attendants don't ask anyone, whoever is standing in front of that nozzle without attention, will get E20. Why would anyone else specifically ask for E20, don't think there is any benefit in any engine/car.
Do we have the compiled list of premium fuels with lower ethanol content?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gansan (Post 5772488)

The main advantage is it is renewable. And saves a lot of foreign exchange for India since we import most of our petroleum needs. The money will circulate within our economy. There may be significant reduction in emissions when the ethanol content becomes at least 40% of the fuel or higher.

Adding ethanol is a big scam to enrich few industrialist. Overall mileage and power decreases, making sure govt import more fuel to run the same distance.

This is totally unfair for people who are driving vehicles manufactured before say 2023. Why should they suffer due to arbit policy of govt? First it was 10 year diesel ban due to NGT in Delhi NCR (which is bordering on illegal as your get 15 years on RC & if vehicle is clearing laid emission norms, no one should stop them from running) & now this!

The blending is mainly for cost reduction purposes - reducing oil imports - not much conclusive scientific data to support the fact that it actually reduces pollution significantly enough. Also cars failing emission tests are live examples.

Also diverting too many resources to sugarcane production for ethanol, will eventually end up in change of land use & other crops might not get as much acreage leading to food related inflation. Seldom are such policies well planned, and aren't made keeping climate change & long term demand & supply in mind.

We've been getting rubbish fuel economy in our 2006 Fiesta 1.6 of late. The figure hasn't crossed 7.5 km/l for a few months now! Pre-2022, it used to manage 9 km/l at the very least even with 100% city usage. Meanwhile this 7.5 km/l figure is despite a mix of city and highway!

I'm also yet to see any distinction between E20, E10 and normal petrol in Hyderabad. It's all a game of luck. BP was the last to keep dispensing E5 petrol until late last year; most blends are around 14-15% now.

And obviously, there is no cost benefit of this blending (read adulteration) that's passed on to us consumers! :Frustrati

Does XP95 petrol from IOCL count as non-blended petrol? It is 95 octane petrol but wondering if it is still blended ? I believe it may not be, so it can be a substitute for those looking to avoid issues with blended fuel.

Ever since I started filling XP95 in my BS6 Creta, I can feel that engine performance, pickup and mileage have increased significantly. In my recent long drive from BLR to Vellore, I got a mileage of 21 kmpl (on MID) vs 16-17 which it used to show earlier with regular petrol.

Adding a CNG kit may be an option if there is availability of CNG. I added a CNG kit in my Grand i10 and getting pretty good fuel economy, it's been approx more than two years and 40k KMs on CNG , overall Odo stands at 1,35,000 KMs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BhayanaV (Post 5772677)

Here in NCR at least the E20 nozzles are different and have a small sign.

Is there an equivalent here in Bangalore? Other folks in Bangalore - what's the best way to identify the pumps where we can ask for E10 petrol and get it? Is there a list of such pumps or things we can do check to ensure we are not getting more than 10% blend?

Also, does Shell petrol have lesser Ethanol by any chance? (I have no logical reason why except that they charge more, so hoping it'd have less ethanol)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy (Post 5772859)

XP95 is about 15% blended fuel. It was discussed some time ago in the XP95 thread.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fabia_firstcar (Post 5772906)

In Bangalore, I haven't encountered different nozzle shape which calls out E20 petrol. I have only seen different dispenser for premium petrol but not sure if it is to do with blending or just octane rating.

If it helps, I have started using XP95 petrol from IOCL and have experienced marked improvement in mileage and performance (you can find my post #141 above).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy (Post 5772952)

What I meant to say in my above post was, the E20 Nozzles have a sign of E20, they don't have any other differentiation. Majority would not care about reading it, since they don't know any such issue exists. I'm also using XP95 (100 is available only at rare pumps) but It is also 15% Ethanol.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BhayanaV (Post 5772958)

I have seen only a single nozzle (and price) for regular fuel. When people say E20 is different nozzle (marking), are there separate dispenser and different pricing? I am yet to see any such thing in Bangalore or may be I failed to notice if it exists.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy (Post 5772859)

I think that has less to do with Ethanol and more to do with the octane rating. Is yours a higher compression turbo-charged engine? Does the manual state to use 95 RON or higher for best performance?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cresterk (Post 5773222)

I think that has less to do with Ethanol and more to do with the octane rating. Is yours a higher compression turbo-charged engine? Does the manual state to use 95 RON or higher for best performance?

Mine is NA engine. Not sure about OEM recommendation but engine runs much smoother with XP95 and mileage has also improved. Is there any harm in using high octane petrol apart from higher price we pay ?

Based on comments in this thread, looks like XP95 is also blended. Wondering how can it achieve such a higher octane rating with ethanol blending. Doesn't ethanol have lower octane rating?

May be some expert can throw light.

https://m.economictimes.com/industry.../110254624.cms

High Ethanol content is reality and fuel refining companies are under pressure to achieve 20% target. I doubt we will get 5 or 10% fuel blend in future. Even now I think we are buying minimum 14% blend across all types of petrol available at pump.

Sugarcane belts, mills / factories, foreign exchange, green goals or personal gains, whatever we think as the cause of it, this is reality hence only way forward is to adapt to it. And here we are dependent on car OEMs.

Sadly none of the manufacturers have come up with recommendations for proactive changes to be done to there old engines / affected parts.