Bihar-based journalist and YouTuber Manish Kashyap has again grabbed the headlines in the country after posting a video claiming that his Toyota Innova HyCross, which cost him approximately ₹40 lakh, had a big mechanical failure after just 12,000 kms. In the video, he draws parallels between the problem and India’s E20 (20% ethanol-blended petrol) policy and wonders whether the owners of the vehicles are being “guinea pigs” in a “big experiment.”
Notably, Toyota officially certifies the Innova HyCross as E20-compatible, making this one of the most significant aspects of the controversy because the vehicle is designed to run on such fuel.
What is the problem that Manish Kashyap says?
One of the most talked about moments in Manish Kashyap’s video is the removal and inspection of the fuel tank of his Toyota Innova HyCross. The fuel extracted from the tank seemed to be split in layers, and he said that the sample from the tank had over 40% ethanol, which is more than what petrol sold as E20 is supposed to have. From this observation Kashyap came up with 2 possible explanations. The first was that the petrol pump could have been pumping fuel with a lot more ethanol than the permitted amount. The second was that the ethanol could not have been completely combusted within the engine, leading to unburned ethanol slowly building up in the fuel tank over time as the tank was refueled and causing an increase in the amount of ethanol in the fuel over time.
In the video, Manish Kashyap also states that he had paid nearly ₹2 lakh for an extended warranty for his Toyota Innova Hycross, as he was sure it would safeguard him from any such repair cost in the future. But when Kashyap went to the Toyota service center with the problem with his car, he was told by a mechanic that the company would not fix the car if it was found out that the damage was caused by the use of ethanol fuel, Kashyap claims in a statement. Given this statement, Kashyap asked the question: Who would be responsible if a fuel used by the government causes damage to a vehicle despite the manufacturer providing a warranty? He said that in such a case, the consumer has to pay the price for adhering to the fuel policy.
Why Does He Blame Ethanol?
Manish Kashyap directly connects the mechanical problem with India’s E20 ethanol-blended petrol. He said that since they’ve been allowing higher blends of ethanol, the vehicles have begun to have issues and that consumers had no idea of the dangers. He wonders if the government has succeeded in turning normal car drivers into subjects of an “experiment” without giving them enough information on what the effects of that experiment might be in the long term. However, please remember that these allegations and opinions are Kashyap’s own and are stated in the video. There has been no independent technical investigation at this time to confirm that this was due to E20 petrol.
The Biggest twist: The car is already E20 compliant!
The one thing that matters most in all the controversy is that the Toyota Innova HyCross is engineered to run on E20 fuel. This brings up a big question: When a car, whose whole purpose was to run on E20, suffers a serious mechanical problem after less than 12,000 km, was it really the fault of ethanol, or could it have been due to another mechanical problem? Currently, there is no public inspection report or specialist analysis that has linked E20 fuel to the failure of the car. It would be hard to make any final judgement from just the video.
Step 5: What’s missing in the video?
The video has sparked much debate, but very important clues are missing that could help definitively establish the cause of the issue. No diagnostic report from Toyota is available; there has not been any laboratory analysis of the fuel that was used in the vehicle, and there has not been any independent analysis by an automotive expert that states that the fuel is the cause of the damage that is being claimed. Having only this technical evidence, it is not possible to determine that the mechanical failure displayed in the video was solely caused by the use of E20 petrol.
Step 6: Government’s Response
The viral video coincided with a nationwide controversy regarding ethanol-blended gasoline. The Indian government has repeatedly reiterated the benefits of the E20 fuel program, including its effect of reducing crude oil imports and carbon emissions, benefiting sugarcane growers, and bolstering India’s energy security. Modern cars that have been approved for E20 are also safe to run on the fuel, officials said. The government has accepted that ethanol-blended petrol may cause the vehicle’s fuel economy to drop marginally due to its lower energy content but has denied that there is widespread engine damage in cars that can run on the new fuel.
Why This Video Matters:
Although it is yet to be verified what went wrong with the vehicle, the video has managed to capture the attention of the public on several important issues. It has raised doubts about the need for extended testing of ethanol-compatible vehicles and how much transparency should be offered to consumers when issues arise with the vehicles in the real world, as well as whether consumers have been adequately informed on ethanol-blended fuel and what it may do. Whatever the final technical results, the video has sparked a greater debate about fuel policy, consumer awareness, and manufacturer responsibility in India.
