White paper on fuel consumption reduction technologies for Indian 2-wheelers

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A white paper has been released on fuel consumption reduction technologies for two-wheeler fleet in India.

The transformation from carburetor technology to fuel injection that has come with the implementation of Bharat Stage VI emission standards provides the basis from which to analyse other incremental technologies for fuel efficiency improvement in the two-wheeler segment.

It is this segment that currently consumes more gasoline than all other forms of on-road transport combined.

As there are many technologies available that can achieve this, India needs to adopt a fuel consumption/CO2 standard for two-wheelers to promote widespread adoption of them.

In a bid to identify realistic fuel consumption targets for small motorcycles, scooters, large motorcycles and for the two-wheeler fleet overall, this paper evaluates the cost-effectiveness and the payback period of different internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle technologies.

Many ICE technology packages were designed, with increasing numbers of fuel efficiency technologies, for each of the three segments.

Authors of the white paper also include an electric two-wheeler (E2W) with a range of 100 kilometers (km) for a small motorcycle and 75 km for a scooter as one of the technology packages for each of those segments.

Though a transition to electric two-wheelers seems inevitable, results show there are opportunities in the interim to obtain better efficiency from ICE pathways.

Small motorcycles, which are the most fuel-efficient segment of the two-wheeler fleet, have the potential to further reduce fuel consumption up to 42 per cent using ICE technologies alone, according to the white paper.

Manufacturer costs

The analysis of manufacturer costs further shows that a mandated fleet average level of 25.3 grams (g) of CO2/km for the two-wheeler fleet can be expected to drive 32 per cent E2W penetration in the new two-wheeler fleet by 2025.

Fixing a fleet average target of 20.5 gCO2/km in 2030 could achieve fuel consumption reductions of 50 per cent in the two-wheeler fleet and a cost-effective penetration of 62 per cent E2Ws.

If stringent fuel consumption standards are adopted, it will give a clearer signal to vehicle manufacturers in terms of how much longer to exploit the ICE pathway and enable rapid change to electrification.

(With inputs from Automotive Lead Research Team)

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