Is Ethanol-blended petrol killing your car?
Is Ethanol-blended petrol killing your car? If you go by the social media chatter of the last few days, that’s the conclusion you are likely to arrive at.
Social media users have claimed that ethanol-blended petrol is not only reducing the mileage of their vehicles, but also damaging the engines.
That’s why, according to a LocalCircles survey, two-thirds of petrol vehicle owners are opposed to the E20 rollout.
What is E20?
Now, what’s E20? It’s essentially a mix of 20% ethanol and 80% petrol. India had achieved E10, that’s 10% ethanol and 90% petrol blending, in 2022.
The country was earlier aiming to shift to E20 by 2030. However, the goal was later revised to 2025–26, which has already been achieved.
Now that E20 has been rolled out, many vehicle owners are opposing it.
Why are consumers opposing E20?
According to the LocalCircles survey, which gathered over 36,000 responses, 89 per cent of respondents who purchased cars in 2022 or earlier reported a decline in mileage. Of these, more than 55 per cent claimed a double-digit drop.
What are OEMs saying?
And the consumer is not alone in having these concerns. According to a Moneycontrol report, most automakers have also said that their older models were calibrated for E10 fuels. Using E20 in these vehicles could result in damage that is not covered under warranty.
Government dismisses E20 concerns
But the government has dismissed these claims and concerns.
The Ministry of Petroleum has claimed that several studies show that ethanol–petrol blends, including E20, result in no significant differences in power and torque generated, or in fuel consumption.
The ministry also claims that the ethanol blend results in only a marginal decrease in mileage, estimated at 1–2% for four-wheelers designed for E10 and calibrated for E20, and around 3–6% in other models.
On the contrary, the government claims that vehicles tuned for E20 deliver even higher performance, due to the higher octane number of ethanol–petrol blends.
The government also says that E20 blending significantly strengthens India’s energy security by reducing dependence on crude oil imports.
📑Some articles/ reports in the media have raised concerns about the potential negative impact of 20% ethanol blending (E20) in petrol, particularly with regard to older vehicles and customer experience. These concerns, however, are largely unfounded and not supported by…
— Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas #MoPNG (@PetroleumMin) August 4, 2025
The E20 pricing debate
Now, many people have questions on this issue as well. They are asking why the cost benefits are not being passed on to the consumer.
A social media user, who goes by the handle Fundamental Investor, shared the ethanol blend maths. Sharing those details, he asked why this blended fuel is priced at over ₹100 a litre, when it should ideally be around ₹80.
For 1 Litre of E20 (Petrol 80% and Ethanol 20% blend), cost break up:
— Fundamental Investor ™ 🇮🇳 (@FI_InvestIndia) August 5, 2025
Petrol base cost: ₹36.00 (80% petrol)
Ethanol cost: ₹13.07 (20% ethanol)
Dealer commission: ₹3.80
Excise duty: ₹15.92
VAT: ₹14.25 (Karnataka)
Total: ₹36.00 + ₹13.07 + ₹3.80 + ₹15.92 + ₹14.25 =…
As of now, the government hasn’t commented on the pricing aspect of the debate.
So, while the government hails E20 as a cleaner, strategic fuel, mounting user complaints, performance issues, and unanswered pricing questions continue to put the rollout under a cloud.
