Maruti Suzuki India has started customer deliveries of the Wagon R Bio-Flex, India’s first flex-fuel passenger vehicle. The first batch of Wagon R Bio-Flex deliveries were handed over to the Indian Sugar and Bio-Energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) in New Delhi. The model can run on blends of ethanol and gasoline and arrives as the government encourages the adoption of ethanol-based fuels to reduce emissions and reduce reliance on conventional fossil fuels. The launch highlights the growing focus on alternative fuel technologies alongside electric vehicles.The Maruti Suzuki wagon R The Bio-Flex is priced at Rs 7.24 lakh (ex-showroom), making it Rs 86,000 more expensive than the standard Wagon R ZXi+ MT on which it is based. The flex-fuel hatchback is currently only available for commercial customers. Talking about the engine, it is powered by a 1.2-litre K12N four-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol engine that produces 91 PS and 114 Nm, mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. Output figures are identical to the E20-compliant version, and Maruti says the Bio-Flex model gets hardware and software revisions to support ethanol blends up to E85. These include updated fuel injectors, a new fuel pump, revised fuel lines, a recalibrated ECU and an ethanol sensor.The company has not disclosed fuel efficiency figures for the Wagon R Bio-Flex. In comparison, the standard Wagon R equipped with the same engine delivers 23.56kpl with the manual transmission and 24.43kpl with the AMT.In terms of features, the WagonR Bio-Flex gets a 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system with wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity, manual AC, semi-digital cluster, all power windows, rear air vents, fog lights, rear parking sensors, rear wipers and washers, six airbags, ABS, ESP and more.
