This September will see the release of Citroen’s first flexfuel vehicle for Europe, the C4 BioFlex. The cars will first be launched in France and Sweden, followed by the rest of Europe. Most of the European countries have attractive policies for vehicles with clean emissions and standards.
C4 BioFlex derives its power from a 1.6L engine that generates 82kW (113bhp). CO2 emissions are reduced by 5% over the combined cycle. Impressive gains however, are noticed in field-to-wheel emissions, which are reduced by nearly 40%.
Bioethanol is an alcohol produced by fermentation of sugar from plants such as beetroot and starch from cereals such as wheat and corn. The emissions of green house gases from such fuels are compensated to a large extent by the growth of plants used to produce bioethanol. Moreover, since these fuels contain oxygen, other pollutants like Carbon monoxide are kept in check and the fuel is sulfur free.
Bio fuels reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and unlike fossil fuels, these fuels are renewable. A great plus as oil fields in the world are nearing their end and countries all over the world are looking at means to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels.
Running cost of the car is low, and a one-kilometer run on this vehicle in France costs only 7.84 euro cents, with the fuel at €0.80 per liter; which is considerably lower than the conventional costs for a vehicle running on petrol.
Technology used in this car is completely transparent to the user. The only thing that gives it away is a different maintenance plan, with services required every 20,000 km for the French market.
C4 BioFlex is available as a 5-door hatchback and costs the same as 1.6i 16V petrol counterparts, €18,650 for the Pack version, €20,000 for Ambiance and €22,150 for the Exclusive model.
[Via: Citroen]
