Toyota Innova Hycross Hybrid Flex Fuel First Look. IN PICS

Toyota has showcased the Innova Hycross with a flex fuel powertrain or in other words, it is an Innova Hycross where its 2.0l engine runs on ethanol blended petrol up to 20% or more.

Toyota Innova Hycross Hybrid Flex Fuel

The flex fuel technology will bring the emissions down, making the car run on electric mode only to save more fuel. To Toyota's credit, it is indeed the first BS6 Stage II-compliant flex-fuel vehicle and the second one shown after the Corolla flex fuel. (Source: Somnath Chatterjee)

In terms of specifications, the Innova Hycross here has the same 2.0-litre Atkinson Cycle engine along with the hybrid system similar to the standard Innova Hycross hybrid.However, the difference is that the engine has been tuned to run on ethanol blended petrol which brings down emissions further while there is no big change in performance. (Source: Somnath Chatterjee)

Since it runs on ethanol, the engine and its components have been changed and upgraded. Plus there is a different fuel pump and special ethanol sensor amongst other upgrades. (Source: Somnath Chatterjee)

The sensors gauge the blend and adjust the fuel injection accordingly. Ethanol will lower our fuel import bill and that is the reason along with lower emissions too. (Source: Somnath Chatterjee)

Interestingly, ethanol raises the octane level and in turn, the mileage could be less but the lower costs would offset that. The Ethanol mix in petrol in India has gone up from 1.53% in 2013-14 to 11.5% in March 2023, which has seen a reduction in oil import bill by Rs. 41,500 crores in the last eight years. (Source: Somnath Chatterjee)

The car has not been launched as instead it has been unveiled while a market launch is yet to be revealed by Toyota as this car is a prototype and would be subjected to further tests in the future. (Source: Somnath Chatterjee)