The biodiesel Scorpio has the old 2.6 common rail engine while the hybrid variant runs on the new 2.2 engine which punches out 120 bhp, 5 bhp more than the old engine. “We had to make minimum changes to adapt the common rail engine for biodiesel,” says Jaura. “Not only do the alternative engines provide high fuel economy but there also is no dip in performance,” he adds.

M&M has already launched microhybrids that reduce the usage of fuel when the vehicle has to stop and start at a traffic signal. The full hybrid vehicles that will use a rechargeable battery and petrol will come later. Another green vehicle that Mahindras have come up with is the Hy-Alfa, a three-wheeler powered by hydrogen that runs with near zero emissions.

Two-wheeler giant TVS has similar plans. It has come out a petrol-electric hybrid scooter, the TVS Qube. “It will be as fast as the TVS Scooty Peppy and will have a maximum power of 5 PS,” says the company spokesperson. TVS has not revealed when the Qube will be launched, but “sooner than the market expects” is what the company is saying.

While these launches will play their part in checking pollution, it is the use of diesel as an automotive fuel that is being debated. What is not known is that clean diesel is less polluting than petrol. According to a report of the Automotive Research Association of India, the emission level of the Tata Indigo petrol is higher than that of its diesel variant. No wonder a senior official of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers asks, “If only 17 per cent of passenger cars in Delhi are diesel, how can these be solely responsible for pollution?” But he does agree that commercial vehicles—which mostly use old diesel engine technology—need to upgrade to common rail diesel engines.

... contd.