India has got its first flex-fuel car that can run on 100% ethanol. As part of the government’s increasing thrust on promoting alternative fuel and reducing dependence on import of oil, three Union ministers — Nitin Gadkari, Bhupendra Yadav and Mahendra Nath Pandey — flagged off the first flex fuelstrong hybrid electric vehicle (FFV-SHEV) on Tuesday. 

The Corolla Altis FFV-SHEV manufactured by automobile major Toyota has a flex-fuel engine and an electric powertrain. So, it provides dual benefit of higher ethanol use and greater fuel efficiency as it can run for a significant time on its EV mode, when the engine is shut off. The car can run on petrol that has ethanol blending between 20-100%. 
The vehicle was launched as a pilot to assess the BS-VI com-pliant FFV-SHEV technology in India; its effectiveness in domestic conditions in reducing carbon emission, which will be shared with the Indian Institute of Science; and for promoting ethanol as a vehicle fuel. 
The vehicle has been imported from Brazil for research and development purpose. The vehicle will be driven in different parts of the country to assess its performance and the study period would be for more than a year, sourcessaid. 
Gadkari said pollution is abig concern in India and the transport sector is a major contributor. “Therefore, there is a need to encourage use of electric vehicles and vehicles that run on biofuels like ethanol and methanol. This will also increase the income of our farmers. We want to reduce our import and dependence on petrol and diesel,” he added. 
InBrazil, which is the biggest sugarcane producer and ethanol, nearly 80% cars are on flex-fuel. 
The government is also promoting use of flex-fuel vehiclesand has notified the standards for E95, E90, E85 engines depending on the percentage of petrol as against the percentage of ethanol mix. Union minister Nitin Gadkari drives India’s first flex-fuel strong hybrid electric vehicle during its launch in New Delhi on Tuesday