Alternative fuel vehicle - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

An alternative fuel vehicle is a vehicle that runs on a fuel other than "traditional" petroleum fuels (petrol or diesel); and also refers to any technology of powering an engine that does not involve solely petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

(e.g. electric car

Electric car

An electric car is an automobile which is propelled by electric motor, using electrical energy stored in batteries or another energy storage device. Electric cars were popular in the late-19th century and early 20th century, until advances in internal combustion engine technology and mass...

, hybrid electric vehicle

Hybrid electric vehicle

A hybrid electric vehicle is a type of hybrid vehicle and electric vehicle which combines a conventional internal combustion engine propulsion system with an electric propulsion system. The presence of the electric powertrain is intended to achieve either better fuel economy than a conventional...

s, solar powered). Because of a combination of factors, such as environmental concerns, high oil prices and the potential for peak oil

Peak oil

Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. This concept is based on the observed production rates of individual oil wells, projected reserves and the combined production rate of a field...

, development of cleaner alternative fuels and advanced power systems for vehicles has become a high priority for many governments and vehicle manufacturers around the world.

Hybrid electric vehicle

Hybrid electric vehicle

s such as the Toyota Prius

Toyota Prius

The Toyota Prius is a full hybrid electric mid-size hatchback, formerly a compact sedan developed and manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation...

are not actually alternative fuel vehicles, but through advanced technologies in the electric battery and motor/generator, they make a more efficient use of petroleum fuel. Other research and development efforts in alternative forms of power focus on developing all-electric

Battery electric vehicle

A battery electric vehicle, or BEV, is a type of electric vehicle that uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs. BEVs use electric motors and motor controllers instead of, or in addition to, internal combustion engines for propulsion.A battery-only electric vehicle or...

and fuel cell vehicle

Fuel cell vehicle

A Fuel cell vehicle or Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle is a type of hydrogen vehicle which uses a fuel cell to produce electricity, powering its on-board electric motor...

s, and even the stored energy of compressed air.

As of 2010 there were one billion vehicles in use in the world, compared with around 47 million alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles that had been sold worldwide as of mid 2011, and made up mainly of:

25.1 million flexible-fuel vehicle
Flexible-fuel vehicle
A flexible-fuel vehicle or dual-fuel vehicle is an alternative fuel vehicle with an internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel, usually gasoline blended with either ethanol or methanol fuel, and both fuels are stored in the same common tank...

s through June 2011, led by Brazil with 14.3 million, followed by the United States with almost 10 million, Canada (600,000), and Europe, led by Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

(226,089). The Brazilian fleet includes one million flexible-fuel motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...

s sold since 2009.
12.7 million natural gas vehicle
Natural gas vehicle
thumb|right|200px|2009 [[Honda Civic GX]] hooked up to Phill refueling system.A natural gas vehicle or NGV is an alternative fuel vehicle that uses compressed natural gas or liquefied natural gas as a clean alternative to other fossil fuels...

s by December 2010, led by Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

with 2.7 million, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

(1.95 million), Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

(1.9 million), Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

(1.7 million), and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

(1.1 million).
Between 2.4 to 3.0 million neat-ethanol vehicles still in use in Brazil, out of 5.7 million ethanol only light-vehicles produced since 1979.
More than 3.4 million hybrid electric vehicle
Hybrid electric vehicle
A hybrid electric vehicle is a type of hybrid vehicle and electric vehicle which combines a conventional internal combustion engine propulsion system with an electric propulsion system. The presence of the electric powertrain is intended to achieve either better fuel economy than a conventional...

s sold by mid 2011, led by the United States
Hybrid electric vehicles in the United States
The fleet of hybrid electric vehicles in the United States is the largest in the world, and since their inception in 1999, more than 2 million hybrid electric automobiles and SUVs have been sold through May 2011. The top selling hybrid car in the U.S. is the Toyota Prius, which reached 1 million...

with more than 2.0 million units, followed by Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

with more than 1.1 million and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

with around 250 thousand. Worldwide, Toyota Motor Company is the leader with 3.0 million hybrids sold by February 2011.
Fewer than 100,000 plug-in electric vehicle
Plug-in electric vehicle
A plug-in electric vehicle is any motor vehicle that can be recharged from any external source of electricity, such as wall sockets, and the electricity stored in the rechargeable battery packs drives or contributes to drive the wheels...

s sold by mid 2011, led by low-speed neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) with more than 45,000 units sold by Global Electric Motorcars
Global Electric Motorcars
Global Electric Motorcars , a wholly owned subsidiary of Polaris Industries, is a U.S. manufacturer in the low-speed vehicle category, producing neighborhood electric vehicles since 1998 and has sold more than 45,000 GEM battery-electric vehicles worldwide as of December 2010.Until June 2011, GEM...

(GEM); more than 20,000 electric car
Electric car
An electric car is an automobile which is propelled by electric motor, using electrical energy stored in batteries or another energy storage device. Electric cars were popular in the late-19th century and early 20th century, until advances in internal combustion engine technology and mass...

s, led by the Nissan Leaf
Nissan Leaf
Nissan introduced its first battery electric vehicle, the Nissan Altra at the Los Angeles International Auto Show on 29 December 1997. The Altra EV was produced between 1998 and 2002, only about 200 vehicles were ever produced, and it was mainly used as a fleet vehicle for companies such as...

with more than 10,000 units sold worldwide by late July 2011, followed by the Mitsubishi i MiEV
Mitsubishi i MiEV
The Mitsubishi i-MiEV is a five-door hatchback electric car produced by Mitsubishi Motors, and is the electric version of the Mitsubishi i. According to the manufacturer, the i-MiEV all-electric range is on the Japanese test cycle...

with more than 5,000 units, the REVAi with more than 4,000 units, the Tesla Roadster
Tesla Roadster
The Tesla Roadster is a battery electric vehicle sports car produced by the electric car firm Tesla Motors in California. The Roadster was the first highway-capable all-electric vehicle in serial production available in the United States. Since 2008 Tesla has sold 2,024 Roadsters in 30 countries...

with more than 1,500 units, and Th!nk City
Th!nk City
The Th!nk City is a small two-seater or 2+2-seater highway capable electric car produced by Think Global and production partner Valmet Automotive, with a top speed of and an all-electric range of on a full charge....

with more than 1,000 units; and around 4,000 plug-in hybrids, led by the Chevrolet Volt
Chevrolet Volt
The Chevrolet Volt is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle manufactured by General Motors. The Volt has been on sale in the U.S. market since mid-December 2010, and is the most fuel-efficient compact car sold in the United States, as rated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency...

with more than 3,000 units. and BYD F3DM
BYD F3DM
The BYD F3DM is a plug-in hybrid compact sedan manufactured by BYD Auto with an all-electric range of and a hybrid electric powertrain that can extend the range an additional . The F3DM is the world's first mass produced plug-in hybrid automobile and went on sale to government agencies and...

with almost 500 units sold.

Air engine

The air engine is an emission-free piston engine that uses compressed air as a source of energy. The first compressed air car was invented by a French engineer named Guy Nègre. The expansion of compressed air may be used to drive the pistons in a modified piston engine. Efficiency of operation is gained through the use of environmental heat at normal temperature to warm the otherwise cold expanded air from the storage tank. This non-adiabatic expansion has the potential to greatly increase the efficiency of the machine. The only exhaust is cold air (−15 °C), which could also be used to air condition the car. The source for air is a pressurized carbon-fiber tank. Air is delivered to the engine via a rather conventional injection system. Unique crank design within the engine increases the time during which the air charge is warmed from ambient sources and a two stage process allows improved heat transfer rates.

Battery-electric

Battery electric vehicle

s (BEVs), also known as all-electric vehicles (AEVs), are electric vehicles whose main energy storage is in the chemical energy of batteries. BEVs are the most common form of what is defined by the California Air Resources Board

California Air Resources Board

The California Air Resources Board, also known as CARB or ARB, is the "clean air agency" in the government of California. Established in 1967 in the Mulford-Carrell Act, combining the Bureau of Air Sanitation and the Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board, CARB is a department within the...

(CARB) as zero emission vehicle (ZEV) because they produce no tailpipe emissions at the point of operation. The electrical energy carried onboard a BEV to power the motors is obtained from a variety of battery chemistries arranged into battery packs. For additional range genset trailers or pusher trailers are sometimes used, forming a type of hybrid vehicle. Batteries used in electric vehicles include "flooded" lead-acid, absorbed glass mat, NiCd, nickel metal hydride, Li-ion, Li-poly and zinc-air batteries.

Attempts at building viable, modern battery

Battery (electricity)

An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...

-powered electric vehicles began in the 1950s with the introduction of the first modern (transistor

Transistor

A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and power. It is composed of a semiconductor material with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals changes the current...

controlled) electric car - the Henney Kilowatt

Henney Kilowatt

The Henney Kilowatt was an electric car introduced in the United States for the 1959 model year.-Corporate funding:The Henney Kilowatt was a project of National Union Electric Company, a conglomerate including Emerson Radio, and Henney Motor Company, which had purchased Eureka Williams in 1953. The...

, even though the concept was out in the market since 1890. Despite the poor sales of the early battery-powered vehicles, development of various battery-powered vehicles continued through the mids 1990s, with such models as the General Motors EV1

General Motors EV1

The General Motors EV1 was an electric car produced and leased by the General Motors Corporation from 1996 to 1999. It was the first mass-produced and purpose-designed electric vehicle of the modern era from a major automaker, and the first GM car designed to be an electric vehicle from the...

and the Toyota RAV4 EV

Toyota RAV4 EV

The RAV4 EV was an all-electric version of the popular RAV4 SUV produced by Toyota. It was leased from 1997 to 2003, and at the lessees request, many units were sold after the vehicle was discontinued. A total of 1,485 were leased and/or sold in California to meet the state’s mandate for...

.

Battery powered cars have primarily used lead-acid batteries and NiMH batteries. Lead-acid batteries' recharge capacity is considerably reduced if they're discharged beyond 75% on a regular basis, making them a less-than-ideal solution. NiMH batteries are a better choice, but are considerably more expensive than lead-acid. Lithium-ion battery powered vehicles such as the Venturi Fetish

Venturi Fetish

The Venturi Fétish is the world's first two-seater electric sports car . It is produced by Venturi in Monaco, and the futuristic design of the car was done by the Parisian designers Sacha Lakic. The Fétish was first introduced in concept form at the 2002 Salon International de l'Auto...

and the Tesla Roadster

Tesla Roadster

The Tesla Roadster is a battery electric vehicle sports car produced by the electric car firm Tesla Motors in California. The Roadster was the first highway-capable all-electric vehicle in serial production available in the United States. Since 2008 Tesla has sold 2,024 Roadsters in 30 countries...

have recently demonstrated excellent performance and range, but they remain expensive, nevertheless is used in most mass production models launched in the late 2000s.

As of May 2011, several neighborhood electric vehicle

Neighborhood electric vehicle

A Neighborhood Electric Vehicle is a U.S. denomination for battery electric vehicles that are legally limited to roads with posted speed limits as high as depending on the particular laws of the state, usually are built to have a top speed of , and have a maximum loaded weight of 3,000 lbs...

s, city electric cars

City car

A city car is a small car intended for use primarily in an urban area.City cars are sold worldwide and most automotive industry manufacturers have one or two in their line-up. In North-America city cars are often referred to simply as "subcompacts" alongside the superminis. These kind of cars...

and highway-capable electric car

Electric car

s are available in several countries, including the Tesla Roadster

Tesla Roadster

, GEM cars

Global Electric Motorcars

Global Electric Motorcars , a wholly owned subsidiary of Polaris Industries, is a U.S. manufacturer in the low-speed vehicle category, producing neighborhood electric vehicles since 1998 and has sold more than 45,000 GEM battery-electric vehicles worldwide as of December 2010.Until June 2011, GEM...

, REVAi, Buddy

Buddy (electric car)

Buddy is a Norwegian electric car, produced by Pure Mobility, formerly Elbil Norge AS, at Økern in Oslo. In 2007, the Buddy, and its predecessor, the Kewet, made up 20% of the electric cars in Norway.-History:...

, Th!nk City

Th!nk City

The Th!nk City is a small two-seater or 2+2-seater highway capable electric car produced by Think Global and production partner Valmet Automotive, with a top speed of and an all-electric range of on a full charge....

, Mitsubishi i MiEV

Mitsubishi i MiEV

The Mitsubishi i-MiEV is a five-door hatchback electric car produced by Mitsubishi Motors, and is the electric version of the Mitsubishi i. According to the manufacturer, the i-MiEV all-electric range is on the Japanese test cycle...

, Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Nissan introduced its first battery electric vehicle, the Nissan Altra at the Los Angeles International Auto Show on 29 December 1997. The Altra EV was produced between 1998 and 2002, only about 200 vehicles were ever produced, and it was mainly used as a fleet vehicle for companies such as...

, Smart ED

Smart ED

The Smart fortwo electric drive is a battery electric vehicle version of the Smart Fortwo micro car. This electric car was formerly known as Smart fortwo EV...

, and Wheego Whip LiFe. Due to the premium price of electric cars because of the high cost of the battery pack, several countries and local governments have established tax credits and other incentives for early buyers of electric vehicles. Other models expected to reach the market between 2011 and 2012 include the CODA Sedan, REVA NXR

REVA

The REVAi, known as G-Wiz in the UK, is a small micro electric car, made by the Indian manufacturer REVA Electric Car Company since 2001...

, Renault Fluence Z.E.

Renault Fluence Z.E.

The Renault Fluence Z.E. is an upcoming electric version of the Renault Fluence, part of the Renault Z.E. program of battery electric vehicles. It was unveiled by Renault at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. The Fluence Z.E...

, Ford Focus Electric

Ford Focus Electric

The Ford Focus Electric is a 5-door hatchback electric car being produced by Ford Motor Company. The Focus electric will be Ford's first full production, all-electric passenger vehicle. The initial U.S. market roll-out is scheduled to be limited to 19 regional markets, beginning with California and...

, Hyundai BlueOn

Hyundai BlueOn

The Hyundai BlueOn is a subcompact 5-door hatchback electric car to be produced by Hyundai Motor Company. According to the manufacturer, the Blue-on all-electric range is and has a top speed of over...

, Tesla Model S

Tesla Model S

The Tesla Model S is a full-sized battery electric sedan developed by Tesla Motors. It is an electric car that was initially codenamed WhiteStar during research and preliminary development. Model S was announced in a press release on June 30, 2008...

, and BMW ActiveE. There are also several pre-production models and plug-in conversions of existing models that are currently undergoing field trials or are part of demonstration programs including the Mini E

Mini E

The Mini E is a demonstration electric car developed by BMW as a conversion of its Mini Cooper car. The MINI E was developed for field trials and deployed in several countries, including the United States, Germany, UK, France, Japan and China...

, BYD e6

BYD e6

BYD e6 is an all-electric crossover car manufactured by BYD Auto with a range of according to the carmaker. Field testing began in China in May 2010 with 40 units operating as taxis in the city of Shenzhen...

, Audi A1 e-tron and Volvo C30 DRIVe Electric.

Solar

A solar car is an electric vehicle powered by solar energy obtained from solar panels on the car. Solar panels cannot currently be used to directly supply a car with a suitable amount of power at this time, but they can be used to extend the range of electric vehicles. They are raced in competitions such as the World Solar Challenge and the North American Solar Challenge. These events are often sponsored by Government agencies such as the United States Department of Energy keen to promote the development of alternative energy

Alternative energy

Alternative energy is an umbrella term that refers to any source of usable energy intended to replace fuel sources without the undesired consequences of the replaced fuels....

technology such as solar cells and electric vehicles. Such challenges are often entered by universities to develop their students engineering and technological skills as well as motor vehicle manufacturers such as GM and Honda.
The North American Solar Challenge is a solar car race across North America. Originally called Sunrayce, organized and sponsored by General Motors in 1990, it was renamed American Solar Challenge in 2001, sponsored by the United States Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Teams from universities in the United States and Canada compete in a long distance test of endurance as well as efficiency, driving thousands of miles on regular highways.

Nuna

Nuna

Nuna is the name of a series of manned solar powered vehicles that won the World solar challenge in Australia four times in a row, in 2001 , 2003 , 2005 and 2007...

is the name of a series of manned solar powered vehicles that won the World solar challenge in Australia three times in a row, in 2001 (Nuna 1 or just Nuna), 2003 (Nuna 2) and 2005 (Nuna 3). The Nunas are built by students of the Delft University of Technology.

The World solar challenge

World Solar Challenge

The World Solar Challenge is a solar-powered car race which covers through the Australian Outback, from Darwin to Adelaide.The race attracts teams from around the world, most of which are fielded by universities or corporations although some are fielded by high schools...

is a solar powered car race over 3021 kilometres (1,877.2 mi) through central Australia from Darwin to Adelaide. The race attracts teams from around the world, most of which are fielded by universities or corporations although some are fielded by high schools.

Trev (two-seater renewable energy vehicle) was designed by the staff and students at the University of South Australia. Trev was first displayed at the 2005 World Solar Challenge as the concept of a low-mass, efficient commuter car. With 3 wheels and a mass of about 300 kg, the prototype car had maximum speed of 120 km/h and acceleration of 0–100 km/h in about 10 seconds. The running cost of Trev is projected to be less than 1/10 of the running cost of a small petrol car.

Dimethyl ether fuel

Dimethyl ether

Dimethyl ether , also known as methoxymethane, is the organic compound with the formula . The simplest ether, it is a colourless gas that is a useful precursor to other organic compounds and an aerosol propellant. When combusted, DME produces minimal soot and CO, though HC and NOx formation is...

(DME) is a promising fuel in diesel engines, petrol engine

Petrol engine

A petrol engine is an internal combustion engine with spark-ignition, designed to run on petrol and similar volatile fuels....

s (30% DME / 70% LPG), and gas turbines owing to its high cetane number

Cetane number

Cetane number or CN is a measurement of the combustion quality of diesel fuel during compression ignition. It is a significant expression of diesel fuel quality among a number of other measurements that determine overall diesel fuel quality.- Definition :...

, which is 55, compared to diesel's, which is 40–53. Only moderate modification are needed to convert a diesel engine to burn DME. The simplicity of this short carbon chain compound leads during combustion to very low emissions of particulate matter, NO_x, CO. For these reasons as well as being sulfur-free, DME meets even the most stringent emission regulations in Europe (EURO5), U.S. (U.S. 2010), and Japan (2009 Japan). Mobil

Mobil

Mobil, previously known as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with their own store or On...

is using DME in their methanol to gasoline

Gas to liquids

Gas to liquids is a refinery process to convert natural gas or other gaseous hydrocarbons into longer-chain hydrocarbons such as gasoline or diesel fuel...

process.

DME is being developed as a synthetic second generation biofuel (BioDME), which can be manufactured from lignocellulosic biomass

Lignocellulosic biomass

Lignocellulosic biomass refers to plant biomass that is composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. The carbohydrate polymers are tightly bound to the lignin...

. Currently the EU is considering BioDME in its potential biofuel mix in 2030; the Volvo

Volvo

AB Volvo is a Swedish builder of commercial vehicles, including trucks, buses and construction equipment. Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems, aerospace components and financial services...

Group is the coordinator for the European Community Seventh Framework Programme project BioDME where Chemrec's

Chemrec

Chemrec is a Stockholm, Sweden corporation that develops technology for entrained flow gasification of black liquor and certain types brown liquor for production of biofuels from the resulting syngas....

BioDME pilot plant based on black liquor

Black liquor

Black liquor is the spent cooking liquor from the kraft process when digesting pulpwood into paper pulp removing lignin, hemicelluloses and other extractives from the wood to free the cellulose fibers....

gasification

Gasification

Gasification is a process that converts organic or fossil based carbonaceous materials into carbon monoxide, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and methane. This is achieved by reacting the material at high temperatures , without combustion, with a controlled amount of oxygen and/or steam...

is nearing completion in Piteå

Piteå

Piteå is a locality and the seat of Piteå Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. The town has 22,650 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 41,000 in 2008.- Geography :...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

Ammonia fuelled vehicles

Ammonia GreenNH3 is being used with success by developers in Canada, since it can run in spark ignited or diesel engines with minor modifications,also the only green fuel to power jet engines,and despite its toxicity is reckoned to be no more dangerous than petrol or LPG. It can be made from renewable electricity, and having half the density of petrol or diesel can be readily carried in sufficient quantities in vehicles. On combustion it has no emissions other than nitrogen and water vapour.

Bioalcohol / Ethanol

The first commercial vehicle that used ethanol

Ethanol fuel

Ethanol fuel is ethanol , the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline. World ethanol production for transport fuel tripled between 2000 and 2007 from 17 billion to more than 52 billion litres...

as a fuel was the Ford Model T

Ford Model T

The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company from September 1908 to May 1927...

, produced from 1908 through 1927. It was fitted with a carburetor

Carburetor

A carburetor , carburettor, or carburetter is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It is sometimes shortened to carb in North America and the United Kingdom....

with adjustable jetting, allowing use of gasoline or ethanol, or a combination of both. Other car manufactures also provided engines for ethanol fuel use. In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, alcohol fuel was produced in corn-alcohol still

Still

A still is a permanent apparatus used to distill miscible or immiscible liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor...

s until Prohibition

Prohibition

Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...

criminalized the production of alcohol in 1919. The use of alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

as a fuel for internal combustion engine

Internal combustion engine

The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...

s, either alone or in combination with other fuels, lapsed until the oil price shocks

1973 oil crisis

The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...

of the 1970s. Furthermore, additional attention was gained because of its possible environmental and long-term economical advantages over fossil fuel.

Both ethanol

Ethanol fuel

and methanol

Methanol fuel

Methanol is an alternative fuel for internal combustion and other engines, either in combination with gasoline or directly . It is used in racing cars and in China...

have been use as an automotive fuel. While both can be obtained from petroleum or natural gas, ethanol has attracted more attention because it is considered a renewable resource

Renewable resource

A renewable resource is a natural resource with the ability of being replaced through biological or other natural processes and replenished with the passage of time...

, easily obtained from sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

or starch

Starch

Starch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by all green plants as an energy store...

in crops and other agricultural produce such as grain

GRAIN

GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...

, sugarcane

Sugarcane

Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...

, sugar beets or even lactose

Lactose

Lactose is a disaccharide sugar that is found most notably in milk and is formed from galactose and glucose. Lactose makes up around 2~8% of milk , although the amount varies among species and individuals. It is extracted from sweet or sour whey. The name comes from or , the Latin word for milk,...

. Since ethanol occurs in nature whenever yeast happens to find a sugar solution such as overripe fruit, most organisms have evolved some tolerance to ethanol, whereas methanol is toxic. Other experiments involve butanol

Butanol fuel

Butanol may be used as a fuel in an internal combustion engine. Because its longer hydrocarbon chain causes it to be fairly non-polar, it is more similar to gasoline than it is to ethanol...

, which can also be produced by fermentation of plants. Support for ethanol comes from the fact that it is a biomass fuel, which addresses climate change

Climate change

Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...

and greenhouse gas

Greenhouse gas

A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...

emissions, though these benefits are now highly debated, including the heated 2008 food vs fuel

Food vs fuel

Food vs. fuel is the dilemma regarding the risk of diverting farmland or crops for biofuels production in detriment of the food supply on a global scale. The "food vs. fuel" or "food or fuel" debate is international in scope, with good and valid arguments on all sides of this issue...

debate.

Most modern cars are designed to run on gasoline are capable of running with a blend from 10% up to 15% ethanol mixed into gasoline (E10-E15). With a small amount of redesign, gasoline-powered vehicles can run on ethanol concentrations as high as 85% (E85), the maximum set in the United States and Europe due to cold weather during the winter, or up to 100% (E100) in Brazil, with a warmer climate. Ethanol has close to 34% less energy per volume than gasoline, consequently fuel economy ratings with ethanol blends are significantly lower than with pure gasoline, but this lower energy content does not translate directly into a 34% reduction in mileage, because there are many other variables that affect the performance of a particular fuel in a particular engine, and also because ethanol has a higher octane rating which is beneficial to high compression ratio engines.

For this reason, for pure or high ethanol blends to be attractive for users, its price must be lower than gasoline to offset the lower fuel economy. As a rule of thumb

Rule of thumb

A rule of thumb is a principle with broad application that is not intended to be strictly accurate or reliable for every situation. It is an easily learned and easily applied procedure for approximately calculating or recalling some value, or for making some determination...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian consumers are frequently advised by the local media to use more alcohol than gasoline in their mix only when ethanol prices are 30% lower or more than gasoline, as ethanol price fluctuates heavily depending on the results and seasonal harvests of sugar cane and by region. In the US, and based on EPA tests for all 2006 E85

E85

E85 is an abbreviation for an ethanol fuel blend of up to 85% denatured ethanol fuel and gasoline or other hydrocarbon by volume. E85 is commonly used by flex-fuel vehicles in the US, Canada, and Europe. Some of the benefits of E85 over conventional gasoline powered vehicles include the potential...

models, the average fuel economy for E85 vehicles was found 25.56% lower than unleaded gasoline. The EPA-rated mileage of current American flex-fuel vehicles could be considered when making price comparisons, though E85 has octane rating of about 104 and could be used as a substitute for premium gasoline. Regional retail E85 prices vary widely across the US, with more favorable prices in the Midwest region, where most corn is grown and ethanol produced. In August 2008 the US average spread between the price of E85

E85

and gasoline was 16.9%, while in Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

was 35%, 30% in Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

and Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

, 19% in Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, 12 to 15% in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, and just 3% in Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

. Depending of the vehicle capabilities, the break even price of E85 usually has to be between 25 to 30% lower than gasoline. (See price comparisons for most states at e85prices.com)

Reacting to the high price of oil and its growing dependence on imports, in 1975 Brazil

Brazil

launched the Pro-alcool program, a huge government-subsidized effort to manufacture ethanol fuel (from its sugar cane crop) and ethanol-powered automobiles. These ethanol-only vehicles were very popular in the 1980s, but became economically impractical when oil prices fell - and sugar prices rose - late in that decade. In May 2003 Volkswagen

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...

built for the first time a commercial ethanol flexible fuel car

Flexible-fuel vehicle

A flexible-fuel vehicle or dual-fuel vehicle is an alternative fuel vehicle with an internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel, usually gasoline blended with either ethanol or methanol fuel, and both fuels are stored in the same common tank...

, the Gol

Volkswagen Gol

The Volkswagen Gol is a subcompact car manufactured by Volkswagen do Brasil since 1980 as Volkswagen's entry-level car in the South American market—where it succeeded the South American VW Beetle ...

1.6 Total Flex. These vehicles were a commercial success and by early 2009 other nine Brazilian manufacturers are producing flexible fuel vehicles: Chevrolet

Chevrolet

Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...

, Fiat

Fiat

FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...

, Ford

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

, Peugeot

Peugeot

Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...

, Renault

Renault

Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

, Honda

Honda

is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...

, Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi

The Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...

, Toyota, Citroën

Citroën

Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...

, and Nissan. The adoption of the flex technology was so rapid, that flexible fuel cars reached 87.6% of new car sales in July 2008. As of August 2008, the fleet of "flex" automobiles and light commercial vehicles had reached 6 million new vehicles sold, representing almost 19% of all registered light vehicles. The rapid success of "flex" vehicles, as they are popularly known, was made possible by the existence of 33,000 filling stations with at least one ethanol pump available by 2006, a heritage of the Pro-alcool program.

In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, initial support to develop alternative fuels by the government was also a response to the 1973 oil crisis

1973 oil crisis

, and later on, as a goal to improve air quality. Also, liquid fuels were preferred over gaseous fuels not only because they have a better volumetric energy density but also because they were the most compatible fuels with existing distribution systems and engines, thus avoiding a big departure from the existing technologies and taking advantage of the vehicle and the refueling infrastructure. California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

led the search of sustainable alternatives with interest in methanol

Methanol fuel

Methanol is an alternative fuel for internal combustion and other engines, either in combination with gasoline or directly . It is used in racing cars and in China...

.
In 1996, a new FFV Ford Taurus

Ford Taurus

The Ford Taurus is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States. Originally introduced in the 1986 model year, it has remained in near-continuous production for more than two decades, making it the fourth oldest nameplate that is currently sold in the North American...

was developed, with models fully capable of running either methanol or ethanol blended with gasoline. This ethanol version of the Taurus was the first commercial production of a E85 FFV. The momentum of the FFV production programs at the American car companies continued, although by the end of the 90's, the emphasis was on the FFV E85 version, as it is today. Ethanol was preferred over methanol because there is a large support in the farming community and thanks to government's incentive programs and corn-based ethanol subsidies. Sweden

Sweden

also tested both the M85 and the E85 flexifuel vehicles, but due to agriculture policy, in the end emphasis was given to the ethanol flexifuel vehicles.

Biodiesel

The main benefit of Diesel combustion engines is that they have a 44% fuel burn efficiency; compared with just 25-30% in the best gasoline engines. In addition diesel fuel has slightly higher Energy Density

Energy density

Energy density is a term used for the amount of energy stored in a given system or region of space per unit volume. Often only the useful or extractable energy is quantified, which is to say that chemically inaccessible energy such as rest mass energy is ignored...

by volume than gasoline. This makes Diesel engines capable of achieving much better fuel economy than gasoline vehicles.

Biodiesel

Biodiesel

Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol....

(Fatty acid methyl ester), is commercially available in most oilseed-producing states in the United States. As of 2005, it is somewhat more expensive than fossil diesel, though it is still commonly produced in relatively small quantities (in comparison to petroleum products and ethanol). Many farmers who raise oilseeds use a biodiesel blend in tractors and equipment as a matter of policy, to foster production of biodiesel and raise public awareness. It is sometimes easier to find biodiesel in rural areas than in cities. Biodiesel has lower Energy Density

Energy density

than fossil diesel fuel, so biodiesel vehicles are not quite able to keep up with the fuel economy of a fossil fuelled diesel vehicle, if the diesel injection system is not reset for the new fuel. If the injection timing is changed to take account of the higher Cetane value of biodiesel, the difference in economy is negligible. Because biodiesel contains more oxygen than diesel or vegetable oil fuel, it produces the lowest emissions from diesel engines, and is lower in most emissions than gasoline engines. Biodiesel has a higher lubricity than mineral diesel and is an additive in European pump diesel for lubricity and emissions reduction.

Some Diesel-powered cars can run with minor modifications on 100% pure vegetable oils. Vegetable oils tend to thicken (or solidify if it is waste cooking oil), in cold weather conditions so vehicle modifications (a two tank system with diesel start/stop tank), are essential in order to heat the fuel prior to use under most circumstances. Heating to the temperature of engine coolant reduces fuel viscosity, to the range cited by injection system manufacturers, for systems prior to 'common rail' or 'unit injection ( VW PD)' systems. Waste vegetable oil, especially if it has been used for a long time, may become hydrogenated and have increased acidity. This can cause the thickening of fuel, gumming in the engine and acid damage of the fuel system. Biodiesel does not have this problem, because it is chemically processed to be PH neutral and lower viscosity. Modern low emission diesels (most often Euro -3 and -4 compliant), typical of the current production in the European industry, would require extensive modification of injector system, pumps and seals etc. due to the higher operating pressures, that are designed thinner (heated) mineral diesel than ever before, for atomisation, if they were to use pure vegetable oil as fuel. Vegetable oil fuel is not suitable for these vehicles as they are currently produced. This reduces the market as increasing numbers of new vehicles are not able to use it. However, the German Elsbett company has successfully produced single tank vegetable oil fuel systems for several decades, and has worked with Volkswagen on their TDI engines. This shows that it is technologically possible to use vegetable oil as a fuel in high efficiency / low emission diesel engines.

Greasestock

Greasestock

Greasestock is an American event held yearly in Yorktown Heights, New York. It is one of the largest alternative fuel, renewable energy, and low-energy green vehicle exhibitions in the United States. Exhibitors showcase a variety of alternative energy vehicles, as well as exhibits with a...

is an event held yearly in Yorktown Heights

Yorktown Heights, New York

Yorktown Heights is a census-designated place in the town of Yorktown in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 1,781 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Yorktown Heights is located at ....

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, and is one of the largest showcases of vehicles using waste oil as a biofuel in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Biogas

Compressed Biogas may be used for Internal Combustion Engines after purification of the raw gas. The removal of H2O, H2S and particles can be seen as standard producing a gas which has the same quality as Compressed Natural Gas. The use of biogas is particularly interesting for climates where the waste heat of a biogas powered power plant cannot be used during the summer.

Charcoal

In the 1930s Tang Zhongming

Tang Zhongming

Tang Zhongming was a Chinese engineer and inventor. In 1931, he created an internal combustion engine powered by charcoal and mounted it in an automobile.-External links:*...

made an invetion of using abundant Charcoal

Charcoal

Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...

resources for Chinese auto market.The Charcoal-fuelled car was later used intensively in China,serving the army and conveyancer after the breakout of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

CNG Compressed Natural Gas

High pressure compressed natural gas

Compressed natural gas

Compressed natural gas is a fossil fuel substitute for gasoline , diesel, or propane/LPG. Although its combustion does produce greenhouse gases, it is a more environmentally clean alternative to those fuels, and it is much safer than other fuels in the event of a spill...

, mainly composed of methane, that is used to fuel normal combustion engines instead of gasoline. Combustion of methane produces the least amount of CO₂ of all fossil fuels. Gasoline cars can be retrofitted to CNG and become bifuel Natural gas vehicle

Natural gas vehicle

thumb|right|200px|2009 [[Honda Civic GX]] hooked up to Phill refueling system.A natural gas vehicle or NGV is an alternative fuel vehicle that uses compressed natural gas or liquefied natural gas as a clean alternative to other fossil fuels...

s (NGVs) as the gasoline tank is kept. The driver can switch between CNG and gasoline during operation. Natural gas vehicle

Natural gas vehicle

s (NGVs) are popular in regions or countries where natural gas is abundant. Widespread use began in the Po River Valley

Po Valley

The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain is a major geographical feature of Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of 46,000 km² including its Venetic extension not actually related to the Po River basin; it runs from the Western Alps to the...

of Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, and later became very popular in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

by the eighties, though its use has declined.

As of 2009 there were 11,2 million natural gas vehicle

Natural gas vehicle

s by 2009, led by Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

with 2.4 million, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

(1.8 million), Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

(1.7 million), Brazil

Brazil

(1.6 million), and India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

(725 thousand). with South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

leading the global market with a share of 39%. In Europe they are popular in Italy

Italy

(580,000), Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

(200,000), Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

(100,000) and Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

(85,000), and they are becoming more so as various manufacturers produce factory made cars, buses, vans and heavy vehicles. In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

CNG powered buses are the favorite choice of several public transit agencies, with an estimated CNG bus fleet of some 130,000. Other countries where CNG-powered buses are popular include India

India

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Argentina, and Germany

Germany

.

CNG vehicles are common in South America

South America

, where these vehicles are mainly used as taxicab

Taxicab

A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...

s in main cities of Argentina

Argentina

and Brazil

Brazil

. Normally, standard gasoline vehicles are retrofitted in specialized shops, which involve installing the gas cylinder in the trunk and the CNG injection system and electronics. The Brazilian GNV fleet is concentrated in the cities of Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

and São Paulo

São Paulo

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

. Pike Research reports that almost 90% of NGVs in Latin America havebi-fuel engines, allowing these vehicles to run on either gasoline or CNG.

In 2006 the Brazilian subsidiary of FIAT

Fiat

introduced the Fiat Siena Tetra fuel

Fiat Siena

The Fiat Siena is the four-door sedan version of the Fiat Palio, a supermini car especially designed for developing countries. The car is similar to Fiat Albea...

, a four-fuel car developed under Magneti Marelli of Fiat

Fiat

Brazil. This automobile can run on 100% ethanol (E100), E25 (Brazil's normal ethanol gasoline blend), pure gasoline (not available in Brazil), and natural gas, and switches from the gasoline-ethanol blend to CNG automatically, depending on the power required by road conditions. Other existing option is to retrofit

Retrofit

Retrofitting refers to the addition of new technology or features to older systems.* power plant retrofit, improving power plant efficiency / increasing output / reducing emissions...

an ethanol flexible-fuel vehicle

Flexible-fuel vehicle

to add a natural gas tank and the corresponding injection system. Some taxicab

Taxicab

s in São Paulo

São Paulo

and Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

, Brazil, run on this option, allowing the user to choose among three fuels (E25, E100 and CNG) according to current market prices at the pump. Vehicles with this adaptation are known in Brazil as "tri-fuel" cars.

Hydrogen

A hydrogen

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...

car is an automobile which uses hydrogen as its primary source of power for locomotion. These cars generally use the hydrogen in one of two methods: combustion or fuel-cell conversion. In combustion, the hydrogen is "burned" in engines in fundamentally the same method as traditional gasoline cars. In fuel-cell conversion, the hydrogen is turned into electricity through fuel cells which then powers electric motors. With either method, the only byproduct from the spent hydrogen is water.

Honda

Honda

introduced its fuel cell vehicle in 1999 called the FCX

Honda FCX

The Honda FCX Clarity is a hydrogen fuel cell automobile manufactured by Honda. The design is based on the 2006 Honda FCX Concept. The FCX Clarity demonstrates electric car qualities such as zero emissions while offering 5 minute refueling times and long range in a full function large sedan...

and have since then introduced the second generation FCX Clarity. Limited marketing of the FCX Clarity, based on the 2007 concept model, began in June 2008 in the United States, and it was introduced in Japan in November 2008. The FCX Clarity is available in the U.S. only in Los Angeles Area

Greater Los Angeles Area

The Greater Los Angeles Area, or the Southland, is a term used for the Combined Statistical Area sprawled over five counties in the southern part of California, namely Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County and Ventura County...

, where 16 hydrogen filling stations are available, and until July 2009, only 10 drivers have leased the Clarity for US$600 a month. Honda stated that it could start mass producing vehicles based on the FCX concept by the year 2020.

A small number of prototype hydrogen cars currently exist, and a significant amount of research is underway to make the technology more viable. The common internal combustion engine

Internal combustion engine

, usually fueled with gasoline

Gasoline

Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...

(petrol) or diesel liquid

Liquid

Liquid is one of the three classical states of matter . Like a gas, a liquid is able to flow and take the shape of a container. Some liquids resist compression, while others can be compressed. Unlike a gas, a liquid does not disperse to fill every space of a container, and maintains a fairly...

s, can be converted to run on gas

Gas

Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...

eous hydrogen. However, the most efficient use of hydrogen involves the use of fuel cell

Fuel cell

A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...

s and electric motor

Electric motor

An electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Most electric motors operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors to generate force...

s instead of a traditional engine. Hydrogen reacts with oxygen

Oxygen

Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...

inside the fuel cells, which produces electricity

Electricity

Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...

to power the motors. One primary area of research is hydrogen storage, to try to increase the range of hydrogen vehicles while reducing the weight, energy consumption, and complexity of the storage systems. Two primary methods of storage are metal hydrides and compression. Some believe that hydrogen cars will never be economically viable and that the emphasis on this technology is a diversion from the development and popularization of more efficient hybrid cars and other alternative technologies.

High speed cars, bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

es, motorcycles

ENV

The ENV is an electric motorcycle prototype powered by an hydrogen fuel cell. It is being developed by Intelligent Energy, a British company.-Specifications:...

, bicycles

PHB (bicycle)

The PHB is a hydrogen bicycle, power-assisted by an electric motor that gets its electricity from a fuel cell. It is manufactured by Pearl , unveiled at the 9th China International Exhibition on Gas Technology, Equipment and Applications in 2007.-Specifications:The vehicle weighs approximately...

, submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

s, and space rocket

Rocket

A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...

s already run on hydrogen, in various forms. There is even a working toy model car that runs on solar power, using a reversible fuel cell to store energy in the form of hydrogen and oxygen gas. It can then convert the fuel back into water to release the solar energy.

BMW's Clean Energy internal combustion hydrogen car has more power and is faster than hydrogen fuel cell electric cars. A limited series production of the 7 Series Saloon was announced as commencing at the end of 2006. A BMW hydrogen prototype (H2R) using the driveline of this model broke the speed record for hydrogen cars at 300 km/h (186 mi/h), making automotive history. Mazda has developed Wankel engines to burn hydrogen. The Wankel uses a rotary principle of operation, so the hydrogen burns in a different part of the engine from the intake. This reduces pre-detonation, a problem with hydrogen fueled piston engines.

The other major car companies like Daimler, Chrysler, Honda, Toyota, Ford and General Motors, are investing in hydrogen fuel cells instead. VW, Nissan, and Hyundai/Kia also have fuel cell vehicle prototypes on the road. In addition, transit agencies across the globe are running prototype fuel cell buses. Fuel cell vehicle

Fuel cell vehicle

A Fuel cell vehicle or Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle is a type of hydrogen vehicle which uses a fuel cell to produce electricity, powering its on-board electric motor...

s, such as the new Honda Clarity, can get up to 70 miles (112.7 km) on a kilogram of hydrogen.

Liquid nitrogen car

Liquid nitrogen (LN2) is a method of storing energy. Energy is used to liquify air, and then LN2 is produced by evaporation, and distributed. LN2 is exposed to ambient heat in the car and the resulting nitrogen gas can be used to power a piston or turbine engine. The maximum amount of energy that can be extracted from 1 kg of LN2 is 213 W-hr or 173 W-hr per liter, in which a maximum of 70 W-hr can be utilized with an isothermal expansion process. Such a vehicle can achieve ranges similar to that of gasoline with a 350 liter (90 gallon) tank. Theoretical future engines, using cascading topping cycles, can improve this to around 110 W-hr/kg with a quasi-isothermal expansion process. The advantages are zero harmful emissions and superior energy densities compared to a Compressed-air vehicle

Compressed-air vehicle

A compressed-air vehicle is powered by an air engine, using compressed air, which is stored in a tank. Instead of mixing fuel with air and burning it in the engine to drive pistons with hot expanding gases, compressed-air vehicles use the expansion of compressed air to drive their pistons...

, and a car powered by LN2 can be refilled in a matter of minutes.

LPG or Autogas

LPG or liquified petroleum gas

Liquified petroleum gas

Liquefied petroleum gas is a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles. It is increasingly used as an aerosol propellant and a refrigerant, replacing chlorofluorocarbons in an effort to reduce damage to the ozone layer...

is a low pressure liquified gas mixture composed mainly of propane and butane which burns in conventional gasoline combustion engines with less CO₂ than gasoline. Gasoline cars can be retrofitted to LPG aka Autogas and become bifuel vehicles as the gasoline tank stays. You can switch between LPG and gasoline during operation. Estimated 10 million vehicles running worldwide.

In the U.S., 190,000 on-road vehicles use propane, and 450,000 forklifts use it for power. It is the third most popular vehicle fuel in America, behind gasoline and diesel.

Hyundai Motor Company

Hyundai Motor Company

Hyundai Motor Company is a Korean multinational automaker based in Seoul, South Korea which, along with Kia, comprises the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, the world's fourth largest automaker as of 2009. As of 2011, it is the world's fastest growing automaker for two years running...

began sales of the Elantra LPI Hybrid in the South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

n domestic market in July 2009. The Elantra LPI (Liquefied Petroleum Injected) is the world's first hybrid electric vehicle

Hybrid electric vehicle

to be powered by an internal combustion engine built to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as a fuel.

Steam

A steam car is a car that has a steam engine

Steam engine

A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...

. Wood

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

, coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

, ethanol

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...

, or others can be used as fuel

Fuel

Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...

. The fuel is burned in a boiler

Boiler

A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...

and the heat converts water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

into steam

Steam

Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...

. When the water turns to steam, it expands. The expansion creates pressure

Pressure

Pressure is the force per unit area applied in a direction perpendicular to the surface of an object. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure.- Definition :...

. The pressure pushes the piston

Piston

A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to transfer force from...

s back and forth. This turns the driveshaft

Driveshaft

A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, propeller shaft, or Cardan shaft is a mechanical component for transmitting torque and rotation, usually used to connect other components of a drive train that cannot be connected directly because of distance or the need to allow for relative movement...

to spin the wheels forward. It works like a coal-fueled steam train, or steam boat. The steam car was the next logical step in independent transport.

Steam cars take a long time to start, but some can reach speeds over 100 mph (161 km/h) eventually. the late model doble could be brought to operational condition in less than 30 seconds, and were fast, with high acceleration, but they were ridiculously expensive.

A steam engine uses external combustion, as opposed to internal combustion. Gasoline

Gasoline

-powered cars are more efficient at about 25-28% efficiency

Fuel efficiency

Fuel efficiency is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the efficiency of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier fuel into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device, which in turn may vary per application, and this spectrum of variance is...

. In theory, a combined cycle

Combined cycle

In electric power generation a combined cycle is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem off the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy, which in turn usually drives electrical generators...

steam engine in which the burning material is first used to drive a gas turbine

Gas turbine

A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....

can produce 50% to 60% efficiency. However, practical examples of steam engined cars work at only around 5-8% efficiency.

The best known and best selling steam-powered car was the Stanley Steamer

Stanley Steamer

The Stanley Motor Carriage Company was a manufacturer of steam-engine vehicles; it operated from 1902 to 1924. The cars made by the company were colloquially called Stanley Steamers, although several different models were produced.-Early history:...

. It used a compact fire-tube boiler under the hood to power a simple two-piston engine

Engine

An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert energy into useful mechanical motion. Heat engines, including internal combustion engines and external combustion engines burn a fuel to create heat which is then used to create motion...

which was connected directly to the rear axle. Before Henry Ford

Henry Ford

Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...

introduced monthly payment financing with great success, cars were typically purchased outright. This is why the Stanley was kept simple; to keep the purchase price affordable.

Steam produced in refrigeration

Refrigeration

Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. This work is traditionally done by mechanical work, but can also be done by magnetism, laser or other means...

also can be use by a turbine

Turbine

A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...

in other vehicle types to produce electricity, that can be employed in electric motors or stored in a battery.

Steam power can be combined with a standard oil-based engine to create a hybrid. Water is injected into the cylinder after the fuel is burned, when the piston is still superheated, often at temperatures of 1500 degrees or more. The water will instantly be vaporized into steam, taking advantage of the heat that would otherwise be wasted.

Wood gas

Wood gas is a syngas fuel which can be used as a fuel for furnaces, stoves and vehicles in place of petrol, diesel or other fuels. During the production process biomass or other carbon-containing materials is gasified within the oxygen-limited environment of a wood gas generator to produce hydrogen...

can be used to power cars with ordinary internal combustion engines if a wood gasifier is attached. This was quite popular during World War II

World War II

in several European and Asian countries because the war prevented easy and cost-effective access to oil.

Flexible fuel

A flexible-fuel vehicle

Flexible-fuel vehicle

(FFV) or dual-fuel vehicle is an alternative fuel automobile

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

or light duty truck with a multifuel

Multifuel

Multifuel, sometimes spelled multi-fuel, is a term applied to any type of engine, boiler, or heater or other fuel-burning device which is designed to burn multiple types of fuels in its operation...

engine that can use more than one fuel

Fuel

, usually mixed in the same tank, and the blend is burned in the combustion chamber

Combustion chamber

A combustion chamber is the part of an engine in which fuel is burned.-Internal combustion engine:The hot gases produced by the combustion occupy a far greater volume than the original fuel, thus creating an increase in pressure within the limited volume of the chamber...

together. These vehicles are colloquially called flex-fuel, or flexifuel in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, or just flex in Brazil

Brazil

. FFVs are distinguished from bi-fuel vehicle

Bi-fuel vehicle

Bi-fuel vehicles are vehicles with multifuel engines capable of running on two fuels. On internal combustion engines one fuel is gasoline or diesel, and the other is an alternate fuel such as natural gas , LPG, or hydrogen...

s, where two fuels are stored in separate tanks. The most common commercially available FFV in the world market is the ethanol

Ethanol fuel

flexible-fuel vehicle

Flexible-fuel vehicle

, with the major markets concentrated in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Brazil

Brazil

, Sweden

Sweden

, and some other Europe

Europe

an countries. In addition to flex-fuel vehicles running with ethanol

Ethanol fuel

, in the US and Europe there were successful test programs with methanol

Methanol fuel

Methanol is an alternative fuel for internal combustion and other engines, either in combination with gasoline or directly . It is used in racing cars and in China...

flex-fuel vehicles, known as M85 FFVs, and more recently there have been also successful tests using p-series fuels

P-series fuels

P-Series fuels are a family of renewable, non-petroleum, liquid fuels that can substitute for gasoline. It is a mixture of ethanol, methyltetrahydrofuran , "pentanes-plus" , and butane. The formulas can be adjusted for cold weather and for 'premium' blends. Approximately 35% of the blend is or...

with E85 flex fuel vehicles, but as of June 2008, this fuel is not yet available to the general public.

Ethanol flexible-fuel vehicles have standard gasoline engines that are capable of running with ethanol

Ethanol fuel

and gasoline

Gasoline

mixed in the same tank. These mixtures have "E" numbers which describe the percentage of ethanol in the mixture, for example, E85 is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. (See common ethanol fuel mixtures

Common ethanol fuel mixtures

There are several common ethanol fuel mixtures in use around the world. The use of pure hydrous or anhydrous ethanol in internal combustion engines is only possible if the engine is designed or modified for that purpose...

for more information.) Though technology exists to allow ethanol FFVs to run on any mixture up to E100, in the U.S. and Europe, flex-fuel vehicles are optimized to run on E85

E85

. This limit is set to avoid cold starting problems during very cold weather. The alcohol content might be reduced during the winter, to E70 in the U.S. or to E75 in Sweden. Brazil, with a warmer climate, developed vehicles that can run on any mix up to E100, though E20-E25 is the mandatory minimum blend, and no pure gasoline is sold in the country.

By December 2010 cumulative global sales of flexible-fuel vehicles have reached around 22.6 million units, led by Brazil with 12 million automobiles and light trucks, and 515,726 flexible-fuel motorcycle

Motorcycle

A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...

s, followed by the United States with 9.3 million, Canada (600,000), and Europe, led by Sweden

Sweden

(216,975). In Brazil, 65% of flex-fuel owners use ethanol fuel regularly in 2009, while, the actual number of American FFVs being run on E85

E85

is much lower; surveys conducted in the U.S. have found that 68% of American flex-fuel car owners were not aware they owned an E85 flex. This is thought to be due to a number of factors, including:

The appearance of flex-fuel and non-flex-fuel vehicles is identical;

There is no price difference between a pure-gasoline vehicle and its flex-fuel variant;

The lack of consumer awareness of flex-fuel vehicles;

The lack of promotion of flex-fuel vehicles by American automakers, who often do not label the cars or market them in the same way they do to hybrid cars

By contrast, automakers selling FFVs in Brazil commonly affix badges advertising the car as a flex-fuel vehicle. As of 2007, new FFV models sold in the U.S. were required to feature a yellow gas cap emblazoned with the label "E85/gasoline", in order to remind drivers of the cars' flex-fuel capabilities. Use of E85 in the U.S. is also affected by the relatively low number of E85 filling stations in operation across the country, with just over 1,750 in August 2008, most of which are concentrated in the Corn Belt

Corn Belt

The Corn Belt is a region of the Midwestern United States where corn has, since the 1850s, been the predominant crop, replacing the native tall grasses. By 1950, 99% of the corn was grown from hybrids. Most corn is fed to livestock, especially hogs and poultry. In recent decades soybeans have...

states, led by Minnesota

Minnesota

with 353 stations, followed by Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

with 181, and Wisconsin

Wisconsin

with 114. By comparison, there are some 120,000 stations providing regular non-ethanol gasoline in the United States alone.

There have been claims that American automakers are motivated to produce flex-fuel vehicles due to a loophole

Loophole

A loophole is a weakness that allows a system to be circumvented.Loophole may also refer to:*Arrowslit, a slit in a castle wall*Loophole , a short science fiction story by Arthur C...

in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE

Café

A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...

) requirements, which gives the automaker a "fuel economy credit" for every flex-fuel vehicle sold, whether or not the vehicle is actually fueled with E85 in regular use. This loophole allegedly allows the U.S. auto industry to meet CAFE fuel economy targets not by developing more, more fuel-efficient models, but by spending between $100 and $200 extra per vehicle to produce a certain number of flex-fuel models, enabling them to continue selling less fuel-efficient vehicles such as SUVs

Sport utility vehicle

A sport utility vehicle is a generic marketing term for a vehicle similar to a station wagon, but built on a light-truck chassis. It is usually equipped with four-wheel drive for on- or off-road ability, and with some pretension or ability to be used as an off-road vehicle. Not all four-wheel...

, which netted higher profit margins than smaller, more fuel-efficient cars.

In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, E85

E85

FFVs are equipped with sensor that automatically detect the fuel mixture, signaling the ECU to tune spark timing and fuel injection so that fuel will burn cleanly in the vehicle's internal combustion engine. Originally, the sensors were mounted in the fuel line and exhaust system; more recent models do away with the fuel line sensor. Another feature of older flex-fuel cars is a small separate gasoline storage tank that was used for starting the car on cold days, when the ethanol mixture made ignition more difficult.

Modern Brazil

Brazil

ian flex-fuel technology enables FFVs to run an any blend between E20-E25 gasohol and E100 ethanol fuel, using a lambda probe

Oxygen sensor

An oxygen sensor, or lambda sensor, is an electronic device that measures the proportion of oxygen in the gas or liquid being analyzed. It was developed by the Robert Bosch GmbH company during the late 1960s under the supervision of Dr. Günter Bauman...

to measure the quality of combustion, which informs the engine control unit

Engine control unit

An engine control unit is a type of electronic control unit that determines the amount of fuel, ignition timing and other parameters an internal combustion engine needs to keep running...

as to the exact composition of the gasoline-alcohol mixture. This technology, developed by the Brazilian subsidiary of Bosch

Robert Bosch GmbH

Robert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...

in 1994, and further improved and commercially implemented in 2003 by the Italian subsidiary of Magneti Marelli, is known as "Software Fuel Sensor". The Brazilian subsidiary of Delphi Automotive Systems

Delphi (auto parts)

Delphi Automotive PLC is an automotive parts company headquartered in Troy, Michigan, USA. Delphi is one of the world's largest automotive parts manufacturers and has approximately 146,600 employees ....

developed a similar technology, known as "Multifuel", based on research conducted at its facility in Piracicaba

Piracicaba

Piracicaba is a city located in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. The population in 2009 was 368,843 in an area of 1,369.511 km², at an elevation of 547 m above sea level.-Name:...

, São Paulo

São Paulo (state)

São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...

. This technology allows the controller to regulate the amount of fuel injected and spark time, as fuel flow needs to be decreased to avoid detonation

Detonation

Detonation involves a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations are observed in both conventional solid and liquid explosives, as well as in reactive gases...

due to the high compression ratio (around 12:1) used by flex-fuel engines.

The first flex motorcycle was launched by Honda

Honda

in March 2009. Produced by its Brazilian subsidiary Moto Honda da Amazônia, the CG 150 Titan Mix is sold for around US$2,700. Because the motorcycle does not have a secondary gas tank for a cold start like the Brazilian flex cars do, the tank must have at least 20% of gasoline to avoid start up problems at temperatures below 15°C (59°F). The motorcycle’s panel includes a gauge to warn the driver about the actual ethanol-gasoline mix in the storage tank.

Hybrid

A hybrid vehicle

Hybrid vehicle

A hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that uses two or more distinct power sources to move the vehicle. The term most commonly refers to hybrid electric vehicles , which combine an internal combustion engine and one or more electric motors.-Power:...

uses multiple propulsion systems to provide motive power. The most common type of hybrid vehicle is the gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle

Hybrid electric vehicle

s, which use gasoline (petrol) and electric batteries for the energy used to power internal-combustion engines (ICEs) and electric motors. These motors are usually relatively small and would be considered "underpowered" by themselves, but they can provide a normal driving experience when used in combination during acceleration and other maneuvers that require greater power.

The Toyota Prius

Toyota Prius

The Toyota Prius is a full hybrid electric mid-size hatchback, formerly a compact sedan developed and manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation...

first went on sale in Japan in 1997 and it is sold worldwide since 2000. By 2010 the Prius is sold in more than 70 countries and regions, with Japan and the United States as its largest markets. In May 2008, global cumulative Prius sales reached the 1 million units, and by September 2010, the Prius reached worldwide cumulative sales of 2 million units. The United States is the largest hybrid market in the world, with more than 2 million hybrid automobiles and SUVs sold through May 2011. The Prius is the top selling hybrid car in the U.S. with 1 million units sold by April 2011.

The Honda Insight

Honda Insight

The Honda Insight is a hybrid electric vehicle manufactured by Honda and the first production vehicle to feature Honda's Integrated Motor Assist system. The first-generation Insight was produced from 1999 to 2006 as a three-door hatchback...

is a two-seater hatchback hybrid automobile manufactured by Honda. It was the first mass-produced hybrid automobile sold in the United States, introduced in 1999, and produced until 2006. Honda introduced the second-generation Insight in Japan in February 2009, and the new Insight went on sale in the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

on April 22, 2009. Honda also offers the Honda Civic Hybrid

Honda Civic Hybrid

The Civic hybrid, based on the seventh generation Civic, was first introduced to the Japanese market in December 2001. Honda claimed it was the most fuel efficient 5-passenger gasoline-powered production vehicle in the world at the time. It was introduced to the U.S. in spring 2002 as a 2003 model...

since 2002.

Among others, the following are popular gasoline-electric hybrid models available in the market by 2009: Ford Escape Hybrid, Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra Hybrid, Lexus RX 400h

Lexus RX 400h

The Lexus RX is the second generation of the Lexus RX series of crossover SUVs that was sold by Lexus from 2003 to 2009. First introduced in 2003 at the North American International Auto Show, the initial RX 330 models went on sale later that year...

, Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Mercury Mariner Hybrid, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Saturn Vue Green Line, Lexus LS

Lexus LS

The Lexus LS is a full-size luxury sedan that serves as the flagship model of Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota. Four generations of the sedan have been produced, all equipped with V8 engines and rear-wheel drive, although since 2006 all-wheel drive, hybrid, and long-wheelbase variants have also...

600hL, Mazda Tribute Hybrid, Nissan Altima Hybrid, Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan Hybrid

Ford Fusion Hybrid

The Ford Fusion Hybrid is a gasoline-electric hybrid powered version of the mid-size Ford Fusion sedan developed by the Ford Motor Company, and launched to the U.S. market in March 2009 as a 2010 model, together with its twin the Mercury Milan Hybrid. The Fusion Hybrid is manufactured at Ford's...

, and Mercedes S400 BlueHybrid

Mercedes-Benz S-Class

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is a series of luxury sedans produced by Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG. The classification was officially introduced in 1972 with the W116 S-Class, which succeeded previous Mercedes-Benz models dating to the mid-1950s...

.

Several major carmakers are currently developing plug-in hybrid electric vehicle

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle

A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle , plug-in hybrid vehicle , or plug-in hybrid is a hybrid vehicle which utilizes rechargeable batteries, or another energy storage device, that can be restored to full charge by connecting a plug to an external electric power source...

s (PHEVs). Chinese battery manufacturer and automaker BYD Auto

BYD Auto

BYD Automobile Co Ltd is a Chinese automobile manufacturer based in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province...

released the F3DM

BYD F3DM

The BYD F3DM is a plug-in hybrid compact sedan manufactured by BYD Auto with an all-electric range of and a hybrid electric powertrain that can extend the range an additional . The F3DM is the world's first mass produced plug-in hybrid automobile and went on sale to government agencies and...

PHEV-68 (PHEV109km) hatchback

Hatchback

A Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate—and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box...

to the Chinese fleet market on December 15, 2008. The 2011 Chevrolet Volt

Chevrolet Volt

The Chevrolet Volt is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle manufactured by General Motors. The Volt has been on sale in the U.S. market since mid-December 2010, and is the most fuel-efficient compact car sold in the United States, as rated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency...

is the first mass produced PHEV launched in the United States, and it was introduced in November 2010. Other PHEVs undergoing field testing as of December 2010 include the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid

Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid

The Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid is a mid-size plug-in hybrid electric vehicle to be produced by Toyota Motor Corporation and scheduled to be released to the market beginning in January 2012...

, Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid, Volvo V70 Plug-in Hybrid, and Suzuki Swift Plug-in.

The Elantra LPI Hybrid, launched in the South Korea

South Korea

n domestic market in July 2009, is a hybrid vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine built to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as a fuel. The Elantra PLI is a mild hybrid

Mild Hybrid

Mild hybrids are essentially conventional fossil-fuel vehicles equipped with a large electric machine allowing the engine to be turned off whenever the car is coasting, braking, or stopped, yet restart quickly...

and the first hybrid to adopt advanced lithium polymer (Li–Poly) batteries.

Pedal-assisted electric hybrid vehicle

In very small vehicles, the power demand decreases, so human power can be employed to make a significant improvement in battery life. Two such commercially made vehicles are the Sinclair C5

Sinclair C5

The Sinclair Research C5 is a battery electric vehicle invented by Sir Clive Sinclair and launched by Sinclair Research in the United Kingdom on 10 January 1985. The vehicle is a battery-assisted tricycle steered by a handlebar beneath the driver's knees. Powered operation is possible making it...

and the TWIKE

TWIKE

The TWIKE is a human-electric hybrid vehicle /light electric vehicle designed to carry two passengers and cargo. It can be driven in electric-only mode or electric + pedal power mode .Constructed of lightweight materials such as aluminium and plastic, this...

External links

EERE:
- US Alternative Fueling Stations.
- Alternative Fuel Price Report.
Alternative Fuels for Road Vehicles - M.L. Poulton
Sustainable Green Fleets EU-sponsored Dissemination project for alternative propelled cars and alternative fuels
Popular Mechanics describes the pros and cons of various alternative fuels and what the future looks like for each.
Green Car Guide
Questions and Answers about Trev., UniSA, Division of Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Air engine

Battery-electric

Solar

Dimethyl ether fuel

Ammonia fuelled vehicles

Bioalcohol / Ethanol

Biodiesel

Biogas

Charcoal

CNG Compressed Natural Gas

Hydrogen

Liquid nitrogen car

LPG or Autogas

Steam

Wood gas

Flexible fuel

Hybrid

Pedal-assisted electric hybrid vehicle

See also

External links