India’s passenger-vehicle market crossed a big threshold in August, when vehicles powered by different fuels collectively outsold petrol-powered vehicles for the primary time. In line with the Federation of Car Sellers Associations (FADA), CNG, hybrid and electrical passenger automobiles accounted for 41.95% of retail gross sales in August, in contrast with 40.85% for petrol automobiles.
FADA President Sai Giridhar described the change as a structural shift, saying: “For the primary time in India’s historical past, different fuels — CNG, hybrid and electrical mixed — overtook petrol within the Passenger Automobile market.”
This shift additionally coincides with client frustration over E20 petrol, which blends 20% ethanol into normal gas. Nevertheless, Indian drivers are usually not fleeing petrol due to E20 alone.
Reuters reported that Giridhar mentioned E20-related issues could have initially accelerated the transfer away from petrol, however the development is being sustained by a wider selection of alternative-fuel automobiles, improved EV vary and the gradual growth of charging infrastructure.
So, what precisely is altering — and the way a lot of it may be attributed to E20?
Let’s get into it.
The issue with E20
India’s push for E20 is designed to chop down on imports of crude oil—the unrefined petroleum pumped from the bottom that’s processed into on a regular basis petrol and diesel. By mixing domestically produced ethanol into gas, the nation goals to spice up vitality independence. Nevertheless, the upper ethanol combine has sparked concern amongst motorists, significantly these driving older vehicles. Reuters reported that critics have anxious about decrease gas economic system, whereas the federal government has rejected what it described as exaggerated claims concerning the gas.
Nevertheless, there’s a cause why E20 can have an effect on mileage: ethanol has a decrease vitality content material than petrol.
Automotive Analysis Affiliation of India (ARAI) Director Reji Mathai advised ANI that managed exams performed by ARAI with automobile producers discovered a 2% to six% enhance in gas consumption with E20 in contrast with E10, relying on the automobile. He defined: “Ethanol as a gas has a barely decrease calorific worth. So the mix additionally has a barely decrease calorific worth.”
In easy phrases, a given quantity of E20 incorporates barely much less chemical vitality than the identical quantity of E10. A automobile should due to this fact burn barely extra gas to cowl the identical distance.
For the motorist, this interprets on to the pockets: you find yourself visiting the pump extra usually to purchase additional litres of gas, elevating your per-kilometer driving prices.
That’s completely different from saying E20 causes engines to fail.
ARAI’s testing, as reported in July, discovered that drivability, startability and acceleration weren’t adversely affected within the examined automobiles. The testing additionally examined vehicle durability and fuel-system elements. Separate reporting on ARAI’s findings famous issues about some older rubber elements in automobiles initially designed for decrease ethanol blends, whereas steel elements have been discovered to be unaffected.
But, whereas E20 is probably not destroying engines, its decrease vitality density could make the gas price per kilometre barely greater. That friction has pressured a query: what are the options?
Additionally learn: E10 petrol may make a comeback – but as a premium fuel: Report
Various gas
“Various gas” is a broad time period, not a single expertise.
In line with ScienceDirect’s Dictionary of Vitality, an alternate gas is any non-petroleum vitality supply used to energy automobiles. Broadly talking, it contains something that reduces our dependence on conventional oil, starting from pure gasoline and electrical energy to hydrogen, biodiesel, and sure alcohol fuels.
There are three classes driving India’s present passenger-vehicle shift, they usually work very in a different way.
CNG, or compressed pure gasoline, continues to be a fossil-derived gas, however it’s used as a substitute for petrol or diesel. Scientific literature identifies CNG among the many main different fuels for spark-ignition engines. Its attraction to customers is essentially linked to working prices and its emissions profile in contrast with typical liquid fuels.
Hybrids mix an internal-combustion engine with an electrical motor and battery. They due to this fact nonetheless use liquid gas however can use electrical help to cut back gas consumption, relying on the expertise and driving situations.
Electrical automobiles, in the meantime, don’t burn petrol or diesel for propulsion. They use electrical energy saved in a battery to energy an electrical motor.
FADA’s August figures present how important these three classes have develop into: CNG accounted for 25.28% of passenger-vehicle retail, hybrids 9.04% and EVs 7.63%, in line with the affiliation.
Additionally learn: Delhi: Eateries, hotels can now use alternative fuels for 1 month
Why are customers selecting them?
There isn’t any single cause.
Reuters reported that FADA’s Giridhar linked the change partly to issues over E20 however mentioned the shift was additionally being sustained by extra alternative-fuel fashions, improved EV vary and increasing charging infrastructure.
Working prices are one other necessary issue. CNG automobiles can attraction to customers on the lookout for decrease gas expenditure, whereas EVs keep away from petrol and diesel consumption altogether. Hybrid automobiles supply one other route by enhancing gas effectivity with out requiring drivers to modify utterly to battery energy.
The broader financial surroundings additionally issues. India’s car retail market recorded its best-ever August in 2026, with complete automobile registrations rising 17.51% year-on-year to 24,23,201 items, in line with FADA. Passenger-vehicle retail rose 16.14% to 4,02,398 items, crossing 4 lakh items in August for the primary time.
On the similar time, Reuters reported that greater oil costs linked to the West Asia conflict have been including to the attraction of automobiles that may scale back dependence on typical petrol. Which means the E20 debate is best understood as one think about a bigger change in client calculations, moderately than as the only real explanation for the shift.
Are different fuels actually cleaner?
Not essentially in the identical method — and “different” doesn’t mechanically imply “zero-emission”.
CNG, as an example, stays a fossil gas. It could have benefits over petrol and diesel by way of sure emissions, but it surely doesn’t eradicate greenhouse-gas emissions. Hybrids have not ditched petrol both. As a substitute, they pair an ordinary gasoline engine with an electrical motor to stretch each liter of gas additional. Biofuels resembling ethanol are additionally extra difficult than merely being labelled “inexperienced”. ScienceDirect famous that the environmental and vitality advantages of different fuels rely upon how they’re produced, what feedstocks are used and the way a lot vitality is consumed throughout manufacturing.
Even EVs carry a broader environmental footprint. In a 2023 analysis evaluation on different fuels printed by EBSCO, Dr. Robin L. Wulffson identified that the electrical energy used to cost an EV could itself come from fossil-fuel energy vegetation. Dr. Wulffson emphasised that evaluating the true environmental affect of any different gas requires its whole manufacturing lifecycle, not simply what comes out of a automobile’s exhaust pipe.
So the cleaner-vehicle query can’t be answered just by trying on the gas tank or exhaust pipe. The related comparability can lengthen throughout the complete vitality chain, from manufacturing to make use of.
Why EVs are essentially completely different
The largest technological distinction between an EV and most different alternative-fuel automobiles is that an EV doesn’t have to convert chemical gas into warmth earlier than producing movement.
An ordinary engine works by burning gas to create warmth, which is then transformed into energy to drive the wheels. As a 2017 research within the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute defined, it’s essentially a system that turns chemical gas into warmth, and that warmth into motion.
An EV takes a distinct route: electrical energy saved within the battery is provided on to an electrical motor, which converts electrical vitality into mechanical movement. As Dr. Robin L. Wulffson talked about in his research, electrical motors are vastly extra environment friendly than conventional engines as a result of they waste far much less vitality as warmth. Whereas fuels like CNG or ethanol supply options to petrol, they nonetheless energy common combustion engines, that means they inherit the very same warmth loss and effectivity limits as conventional gasoline vehicles.
That’s the reason an EV shouldn’t be merely one other fuel-replacing petrol. It represents a distinct propulsion system.
Its limitations, nevertheless, are completely different too. Battery price, automobile worth, driving vary and charging infrastructure stay necessary issues, whereas the environmental profit relies upon partly on how the electrical energy is generated.
Additionally learn: No new registrations for CNG, petrol or diesel LGV with less than 3.5k kg in Delhi from 2027: CAQM
Is petrol truly dropping its dominance?
The August numbers present that petrol has misplaced its place as the most important mixed class, however it might be untimely to say petrol has been displaced.
The essential level is that the 41.95% alternative-fuel share combines three completely different applied sciences — CNG, hybrids and EVs — whereas petrol stays the most important particular person powertrain class at 40.85%.
In different phrases, India’s automotive market has not all of the sudden develop into a predominantly electrical or CNG market. As a substitute, patrons are more and more splitting their decisions amongst a number of options to traditional petrol. Giridhar advised Reuters that “This shift was sure to occur”, given there’s extra selection and enhancing EV expertise and infrastructure.
The true take a look at shall be whether or not this diversification continues by way of India’s festive shopping for season and past.
