Maruti drives in India’s 1st flex-fuel car Wagon-R:’E85 petrol will be cheaper than E20 fuel’, says Union Minister Puri

Maruti Suzuki has launched India’s first flex-fuel car, the Wagon-R Flex-Fuel. The new Wagon-R is capable of running completely on E85 fuel (petrol mixed with up to 85% ethanol). Currently, the vehicle will only be available for fleet operators and cab aggregators like Ola and Uber. For this reason, Maruti has not disclosed the prices of the Wagon-R Flex-Fuel. There are no changes in the car’s design, but several mechanical updates have been made to make it compatible with E85 fuel, which is expected to make its price higher than the petrol and CNG versions. Target to install 5,000 ethanol pumps by 2027 Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said at the car launch event that the government’s target is to set up 5000 E85 fuel dispensing stations across the country by the end of 2027. Puri said, “Initially we will have approximately 50 to 100 dispensing stations in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai-Pune-Nagpur corridor. By December this year, it will be expanded to 500 stations.” Along with this, the Union Minister also assured that the price of E85 fuel will be kept significantly lower compared to the current E20 petrol. Production-spec model unveiled for the first time The WagonR Flex-Fuel has been seen on several occasions before this. It was first seen in 2022 and then at the Bharat Mobility Show in 2024. However, all previous versions were only prototypes (testing models), whereas what has been presented today is its production-spec (ready for production) model. Exterior: Same boxy look as regular model, ‘Flex Fuel’ badging The new Wagon-R Flex Fuel’s overall design is similar to the standard model, but some cosmetic changes have been made to give it a distinct identity.