Home » Articles
Car Articles
Read articles on cars and car industry. Get fully updated on all information related to cars. Read exciting happening in the Indian and Global Car industry, tips to help you and more...
Old Articles
Average User Rating for this page : 3.2 out of 6
What’s Best - Petrol, Diesel, CNG, LPG, Electricity, or Hybrid?
Cars have been running on fuels like petrol and diesel produced from gasoline for over a century. Unfortunately, at this stage of time, the demand of oil is increasing along with the growing population and increasing number of cars on Indian roads. This has also result in the hike to fuel price. To combat the increase in fuel prices various alternatives and technology has been emerged to improve fuel efficiency of Indian cars.
Leading car manufacturers are pouring in huge investment to produce fuel economic engines. Here are some of the most commonly used fuels that have been running Indian cars. Read the comparison and choose the best alternative in terms of enhanced fuel efficiency, effective operation, better reliability and life long durability.
Leading car manufacturers are pouring in huge investment to produce fuel economic engines. Here are some of the most commonly used fuels that have been running Indian cars. Read the comparison and choose the best alternative in terms of enhanced fuel efficiency, effective operation, better reliability and life long durability.
Petrol
Petrol is the most common fuel used in majority of the Indian cars. Petrol engines are quiet and smooth in operations give good performance. It is one of the fastest revving fuels and requires less maintenance. But now this fuel has become a great threat to the environment as well as the National Economy. Crude petroleum oil contains hydrocarbons along with some traces of oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur. This hydrocarbon containing oil undergoes combustion for converting fuel into kinetic energy. The process of combustion releases some hazardous pollutants like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons that escape into the air and cause environmental pollution. The increasing demand of petrol has also endangered the economy because the reserves are declining.
Diesel
The traditional form of diesel is a fractional distillate of petroleum crude oil. It is denser and more efficient than the regular petrol. Diesel is widely used for combustion in car engines of heavy motor vehicles like tractors, trucks and buses. This attributes to the low cost of diesel in the Indian market so that the pressure on farmers, truck and bus fleet is reduced. Compared to petrol, diesel emits less carbon dioxide but more nitrogen oxides. Another great disadvantage of diesel engines is the noise it makes during a drive.
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)
It is a very good alternative for petrol and diesel. CNG is believed to be a cleaner fuel because it does not contain any air pollutants. CNG is prepared by compressing the natural gas at standard atmospheric pressure. It is much cheaper than petrol/diesel and much more efficient. One disadvantage of this gas is the huge storage space that the CNG cylinder occupies in the car.
Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG)
It is commonly known as autogas and is derived from fossil fuels. This gas is widely used in Indian houses for cooking purposes and is now being used to run the car in order to reduce the burden on the oil reserve. LPG is much cheaper than petrol, providing less emission and more efficiency. To run any car on LPG, one needs to convert the engine but unfortunately all cars cannot be converted.
Electricity
Most of the car manufacturers in India have laid their eyes on electricity as an alternative to petrol and diesel. Engines equipped with electric current are recharged using electricity at any place. These engines are free from emissions or pollutants and are preferred over petrol and diesel to overcome the problem of environmental pollution. The speed is slow but enough for driving within city limit. The only disadvantage of electric engines is the presence of lithium ions that have very short life and can even blast into fumes on over usage. At present Reva Maini is the only electric car in India.
Hybrids
Hybrid engines are engines with dual fuel, electricity and petrol. The biggest advantage of hybrid cars is the switch over usability of the engine. This means that electric engine of the car can be used while driving within the city on the congested roads and during emergencies and on highways, the driver can switch on to petrol engine. The operating power is generated using electric motor and this saves fuel as well as produce less emission. The production cost of these hybrid cars is very high and this attributes to the high cost price in comparison to petrol and diesel cars. Mahindra Scorpio is the only hybrid car available in the country and others like Honda Civic and Toyota Prius are yet to launch.
