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 was handed over to the Indian Sugar and Bio-energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) in New Delhi. The model can run on ethanol-petrol blends and arrives as the government pushes the adoption of ethanol-based fuels to reduce emissions and cut reliance on conventional fossil fuels. The launch highlights the growing focus on alternative fuel technologies alongside electric vehicles.The Maruti Suzuki Wagon R Bio-Flex is priced at Rs 7.24 lakh (ex-showroom), making it Rs 86,000 costlier than the standard Wagon R ZXi+ MT on which it is based. The flex-fuel hatchback is currently available only for commercial buyers.Talking about the engine, it’s powered by a 1.2-litre K12N naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine producing 91hp and 114Nm, paired with a five-speed manual gearbox. Output figures are identical to the E20-compliant version, and Maruti says that the Bio-Flex model receives hardware and software revisions to support ethanol blends of 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 a claimed 23.56kpl with the manual transmission and 24.43kpl with the AMT.Features-wise, 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 AC vents, fog lamps, rear parking sensors, rear wiper and washer, six airbags, ABS, ESP and more.
