Now A Car That Can Run On Petrol, Ethanol And Electricity At The Same Time

In the ongoing transition to electric vehicles from gasoline ones, several auto makers have found a stepping stone in the form of Hybrids. Toyota, for instance, has been selling hybrid cars in its international markets for the past two decades now. The vehicles might not be the ultimate goal of zero emission mobility but they are definitely far better than the traditional gasoline ones in terms of emission control. Toyota has now decided to better it, with an option of ethanol within the same drivetrain.

The company is working on a new drivetrain for its hybrid Corolla, one that works on electricity, gasoline as well as ethanol. The vehicle will be able to run on any of the three fuels or a combination of any two at the same time. To be built in its Sao Paulo facility, the future Corollas will supposedly offer a whole new mileage-efficiency to the users.

Toyota Corolla Hybrid (Representative Image: Reuters)

But why ethanol?

Ethanol is a popular low-emission fuel option prevalent in many countries. Brazil, for example, has its whole transportation working on the fuel instead of gasoline. Along with the fact that ethanol is up to 80% cleaner than traditional gas, it is also considered to be a renewable fuel option, thanks to its source - sugar canes!

Now even though electric vehicles have zero emission levels - better than having ¡°some¡±, their implementation in many countries has seen far too many roadblocks for an effective adoption. Cost is one factor, with the Lithium ion batteries pulling their price much above the IC engine vehicles. Another issue is the missing charging infrastructure, that will take half a decade¡¯s time to reach levels of practicality in any country that has just started employing them.

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So as a stopgap solution, ethanol is a much greener alternative than the traditional gas. It can even be used very easily, within the same infrastructure and for the prevalent vehicle types. It is even cheaper than the regular petrol/ diesel most of the times.

Toyota Corolla Hybrid badge (Image: Reuters)

Toyota¡¯s target

So with the terrific use case scenario in sight, Toyota plans to provide its upcoming Corolla Hybrid in as many countries as possible. The easy targets are the ones already using ethanol as a fuel. Most of the South American countries are encompassed in this.

Toyota is yet to come up with an all electric car. While many other auto makers already have an EV offering or two in their kitties, Toyota is instead playing big on the vehicles with present applications. Using ethanol in its future drive-train proves just that.

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It doesn¡¯t mean the company is not working on purely clean mobility. Recently, Toyota made public a research experiment of its own that involved a Prius hybrid with a solar panel on its roof. The idea was to use solar energy for extending the range of the hybrid by also charging the car while on the move.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)