Honda CB300F Flex-Fuel: The Future of Alternate Fuel Begins

Honda CB300F Flex Fuel - supports up to 85% ethanol along with the remaining petrol quantity

It is clear that in future we will be riding (and driving) vehicles capable of running on alternate fuel or a variety of fuels, and some that don’t even use fuel at all (see electric vehicles).

That future has already started. We have a decent number of electric cars running on our roads, the electric bike market is seeing some action recently as well, and now, Honda has launched India’s first 300cc motorcycle that is designed to run on flex fuel. It is the CB300F Flex-Fuel, whose regular petrol version is already on sale in India for quite some time now.

What is Flex Fuel

Flex fuel’s technical term or name is E85, which means it can contain up to 85% ethanol mixed with the remaining quantity of gasoline. Currently, we have E20 fuel which has up to 20% ethanol and 80% petrol.

Flex fuel will enable the new CB300F to run on a wider variety of fuel containing a wider range of ethanol up to 85%. A fuel composite sensor in its engine will automatically adjust the FI system and the ignition timings to adapt to different ethanol ratings when using flex fuel.

How is Flex Fuel Made

Flex fuel (or ethanol in particular) is made by fermenting grains like sugarcane and corn (not their combination, but separately), which makes ethanol alcoholic in nature. The fermented solution is further purified on its way to becoming ethanol.

Is CB300F Flex-Fuel’s Engine the Same as the Regular CB300F’s Engine

Technically and visually the engines are exactly the same with unchanged specifications. However, internal parts such as the fuel line, the fuel tank’s internal surface coating, and such, are a little different between the flex-fuel engine and the regular petrol engine. That’s because ethanol is harsher than petrol and hence, it could damage certain internal parts in a regular petrol engine. So, the CB300F Flex-Fuel’s engine, although technically and visually the same, has updated internal parts that are suitable for the E85 fuel.

Benefits and Disadvantages of Flex Fuel

Of course, the biggest benefit of flex fuel is that it’s environment-friendly as ethanol burns cleaner than petrol and hence, produces less carbon dioxide comparatively. Secondly, because it is made from sugarcane and/or corn, it promotes their farming which in turn would benefit their farmers. Resultantly, doing this reduces a country’s dependence on oil that’s imported, which could lead to reduced oil import in the future and its associated costs.

The performance is also said to be unaffected between a flex fuel engine and a similar petrol engine. And Honda claims the same in the case of the CB300F Flex-fuel too, which is a good thing to know for any motorcycle enthusiast. Biggest of all, as it is still an ICE engine, a flex fuel engine maintains the character and feel that we all love.

The flip side of using flex fuel is that it may not be as fuel efficient as petrol. This will become clearer as flex fuel and compatible engines become more common in the future, but so far, it is suggested that flex fuel vehicles have to visit a fuel station more frequently. However, the flex fuel is also cheaper than petrol, so the costs could balance out in that way.

Trust in Technology

It is inevitable that in the future we will be riding/driving bikes and cars with alternate fuel, flex fuel, and even the ones with no fuel at all. But the good thing about technology and its constant innovation is that the ICE engines will remain a part of our future (something that matters to us a lot). Flex fuel technology is likely to get better in the coming years and it shall be one of those things that will allow us to continue enjoying the ICE engines in the heavily strict environmentally-obsessed future.