These Two Petrols Have 0% Ethanol
Yesterday, a very concerning incident went viral that was also shared here on Cartoq. What happened was that a friend of a Ferrari owner shared an image of a multi-crore Ferrari supercar stranded on the side of the road after it failed to start due to an E20 fuel fill-up. As a result, most supercar and luxury car owners are now concerned and want to know which fuel companies in India sell E0 or zero percent ethanol-blended fuel. Well, here is the answer for all those people and others who want pure petrol.
Zero percent ethanol-blended petrol
A motorcycle enthusiast from Bengaluru recently set out on a mission to find the best fuel for his Kawasaki Z900. The name of this man's YouTube channel is Zuby the Rider and he has been sharing videos of different fuels from various major fuel outlets. He brings home samples of fuel from these fuel stations and then conducts an experiment to find out the ethanol percentage in them.
Indian Oil Corporation's XP100 – Rs 160 per litre
He started off this series by visiting the Indian Oil Corporation’s outlet and buying two different fuels – XP100 and XP95. He then brought them home and started his experiment. He first created a colored water solution by adding food dye into a cup of water. He highlighted that adding water does not change anything in this experiment.
He then put 10 ml of water in a measuring cone and added 90 ml of IOC’s XP100 fuel. He thoroughly mixed them together and finally set the mixture aside for a while. After coming back, he showed that the ratio of water to XP100 was exactly the same at 90 ml and 10 ml, which means that there is no ethanol mixed in this fuel. As for the cost, he mentioned that the XP100 costs Rs 160 per litre.
Hindustan Petroleum Power 100 – Rs 180 per litre
The same vlogger, after testing XP100, conducted the same test for Hindustan Petroleum’s Power 100 and normal fuel. This time around, instead of mixing 10 ml of green-colored solution, he mixed 25 ml. The normal fuel showed an increase of 13 ml of water, meanwhile the HP Power 100 did not add any water. This concludes that the Rs 180 per litre HP Power 100 has 0 percent ethanol.
What is the science behind this ethanol testing experiment?
For those who may be wondering how this experiment works, the answer is that ethanol is hygroscopic in nature, which means that it can absorb water from moisture. What happens in this experiment is that the water level is controlled and then mixed with fuel, which may or may not be blended with ethanol.
Now, if the fuel has ethanol in it, the water level in the measuring flask increases, which is indicated by the green color. Using simple maths, the percentage of ethanol can be calculated. This particular experiment has been performed on various fuels sold by different fuel companies in the country.
However, only Indian Oil Corporation's XP100 and Hindustan Petroleum's Power 100 have been found to have 0 percent ethanol. Now, we understand that at Rs 160 and Rs 180 per litre, respectively, they are quite expensive for everyday users. But owners of high-end cars and bikes should prefer these fuels as they can save them from paying lakhs after damaging their fuel systems.