The Indian government recently introduced E85 fuel in Delhi, priced at Rs 82.12 per litre. That’s Rs 20 cheaper than E20, which currently costs Rs 102.12 per litre. E85 is petrol blended with 85 percent ethanol, making it a much higher ethanol concentration than the E20 most vehicles run on today. The obvious question: does the cheaper fuel actually save you money, or does the drop in fuel efficiency cancel out the price advantage?
Autocar India set out to find the answer with a real-world mileage test.
The testing methodology
It used a Suzuki Gixxer SF 250 FFV, one of the very few two-wheelers in India currently capable of running on E85. The team drained the tank completely, filled it to the brim with E85, set tyre pressures to manufacturer specs, and rode an 80 km loop through Delhi traffic at an average speed of 29 kmph. The same route was repeated the next day using E20, under similar traffic and weather conditions. A brim-to-brim filling method ensured accurate results.
Autocar India’s findings
On E85, the Gixxer SF 250 FFV returned 28.81 kmpl. On E20, the same bike returned 38.1 kmpl. That’s a difference of 24.40 percent in favour of E20. The reason is straightforward: ethanol carries less energy per litre than petrol. Pure petrol delivers around 32 MJ per litre (megajoule/litre), E20 drops slightly to about 30.5 MJ per litre, and E85 falls significantly to around 23.5 to 24 MJ per litre. Less energy means more fuel burned to cover the same distance.
What this means for you
Here’s where it gets interesting. Despite E85 being cheaper per litre, the lower fuel efficiency means you end up spending more per kilometre.
On E85: Rs 2.85 per km
On E20: Rs 2.68 per km
Over 10,000 km, running E85 costs Rs 28,514 compared to Rs 26,803 on E20. That’s an additional Rs 1,711 spent on E85. And that gap will only grow larger on higher-capacity motorcycles or cars, which are inherently less fuel-efficient than bikes.
There’s also the upfront cost to consider. The flex fuel Gixxer SF 250 FFV is priced at Rs 1,98,457 ex-showroom in Delhi, nearly 5 percent more than the standard E20 version at Rs 1,89,768. Hero MotoCorp’s recently launched flex fuel versions of the Splendor and HF Deluxe carry a similar price premium.
The bigger picture
For E85 to make financial sense for everyday buyers, it needs to be priced low enough to not just match E20’s running cost, but beat it meaningfully. At current prices, that’s not the case.
Bureau Report
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