Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz India today said all vehicles it has sold in the country since 2019-20 are E20-compatible, but have not been tested for higher ethanol blends such as E22 and above.
A move from E20 to higher blends would require the company to test and recalibrate its vehicles, Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and CEO Santosh Iyer told Autocar Professional.
According to the executive, the existing vehicles cannot be made compatible with a higher blend through a simple conversion or retrofit. “We will have to recalibrate. There is no method, at least to my knowledge,” he said.
E20 petrol contains up to 20% ethanol and 80% petrol, while the higher blends will further increase ethanol content. A higher concentration can require changes to engine calibration, fuel-system materials and other components because ethanol has different chemical and combustion properties from petrol.
Recently, the government waived central excise levies on the newly notified E22, E25, E27 and E30 petrol blends, in a move aimed at making fuels with more than 20% ethanol commercially viable.
The government has also started retailing E85, which contains 80-85% ethanol and is meant only for purpose-built flex-fuel vehicles, at 48 public-sector fuel outlets. The broader regulatory roadmap will allow flex-fuel vehicles to operate on blends ranging from E20 to E100, with the government also clearing a legal framework for vehicles powered by 100% ethanol.
The government’s ethanol programme is aimed at reducing India’s dependence on imported crude oil, lowering emissions and increasing demand for domestically produced ethanol.
The auto industry began producing E20 material-compliant vehicles from April 2023. Iyer said the government had given automakers sufficient notice before the E20 rollout, allowing Mercedes-Benz to prepare its products.
While there has been discussion around raising the ethanol content beyond 20%, Iyer said Mercedes-Benz would wait for an official roadmap and regulations. “I don’t think it will be a direct switch because they will have to give a notification and guidelines, which is yet to come,” he said.
He said significantly higher ethanol blends were not part of Mercedes-Benz’s current global product roadmap. “Taking ethanol blending too high is not part of any roadmap globally for us as such. But we will wait for the government to give clarification,” Iyer said.
Hybrids An Alternative Route
Iyer said hybrid technology could help meet some of the objectives behind the ethanol programme, including lowering oil consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.
“If you look at hybrids today, the plug-in hybrid gives you better efficiency, lower CO2 and reduced oil consumption,” he said.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the Mercedes-Benz S 450e, the company’s first plug-in-hybrid S-Class in India. The S 450e combines a 3.0-litre six-cylinder petrol engine with a 120kW electric motor. It has a 22kWh battery and offers a claimed electric-only range of up to 115km. Mercedes-Benz claims a combined fuel efficiency of 32.3 kilometres per litre for the model under the WLTP testing cycle.
The S-Class PHEV has been priced between ₹2.20 crore and ₹2.38 crore, ex-showroom. It will initially be imported as a completely built unit, with customer deliveries expected to begin in the fourth quarter.
Iyer said technologies such as plug-in hybrids could lower petrol consumption without requiring a higher ethanol blend. However, he acknowledged that ethanol also supports India’s agricultural economy by creating demand for domestically produced feedstock.
“The need for the government to increase ethanol is twofold. One is because of oil imports, and the second is the local ecosystem that it wants to cater to,” he said.
While electrification can address the fuel-efficiency and emissions objectives, it does not directly support the ethanol-production ecosystem, he added.
Mercedes-Benz India currently offers petrol-powered vehicles across about 20 model lines, including conventional petrol, mild-hybrid and plug-in-hybrid models. The portfolio spans entry luxury cars, sedans, SUVs, performance models and top-end vehicles. The company also continues to offer diesel and battery-electric powertrains, reflecting its strategy of retaining multiple technologies while customer demand remains divided.