An alternative fuel vehicle is a motor vehicle that runs on alternative fuel rather than traditional petroleum-based fossil fuels such as gasoline, petrodiesel or liquefied petroleum gas (autogas). The term typically refers to internal combustion engine vehicles or fuel cell vehicles that utilize synthetic renewable fuels such as biofuels (ethanol fuel, biodiesel and biogasoline), hydrogen fuel or so-called "Electrofuel". The term can also be used to describe an electric vehicle (particularly a battery electric vehicle or a solar vehicle), which should be more appropriately called an "alternative energy vehicle" or "new energy vehicle" as its propulsion actually relies on electricity rather than motor fuel.
Vehicle engines powered by gasoline/petrol first emerged in the 1860s and 1870s; they took until the 1930s to completely dominate the original "alternative" engines driven by steam (18th century), by gases (early 19th century), or by electricity ( 1830s). Because of a combination of factors, such as environmental and health concerns including climate change and air pollution, high oil-prices and the potential for peak oil, development of cleaner alternative fuels and advanced power systems for vehicles has become a high priority for many governments and vehicle manufacturers around the world in recent years.
Hybrid electric vehicles such as the Toyota Prius are not actually alternative fuel vehicles, as they still use traditional fuels such as gasoline, but through advancement in electric battery/supercapacitor and motor–generator technologies, they have an overall better fuel efficiency than conventional combustion vehicles. Other research and development efforts in alternative forms of power focus on developing plug-in electric, range extender and fuel cell vehicles, and even compressed-air vehicles.
An environmental analysis of the impacts of various vehicle-fuels extends beyond just operating efficiency and emissions, especially if a technology comes into wide use. A life-cycle assessment of a vehicle involves production and post-use considerations. In general, the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of battery-electric vehicles are lower than emissions from hydrogen, PHEV, hybrid, compressed natural gas, gasoline, and diesel vehicles.
Current deployments , there were more than 1.49 billion motor vehicles on the world's roads, compared with approximately 159 million alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles that had been sold or converted worldwide at the end of 2022 and consisting of:
Over 65 million flex fuel automobiles, motorcycles and light duty trucks by the end of 2021, led by Brazil with 38.3 million and the United States with 27 million. Over 26 million plug-in electric vehicles, 70% of which were battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and 30% of which were plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). China had 13.8 million units, Europe 7.8 million, and the United States 3 million. In 2022, annual sales exceeded 10 million vehicles, up 55% relative to 2021. 24.9 million LPG powered vehicles by December 2013, led by Turkey with 3.93 million, South Korea (2.4 million), and Poland (2.75 million). See table: Largest autogas markets, 2010 24.5 million natural gas vehicles by the end of 2017, led by China (5.35 million) followed by Iran (4.0 million), India (3.05 million), Pakistan (3 million), Argentina (2.3 million), and Brazil (1.78 million). In 2015, 2.4 million units were sold. Over 13 million hybrid electric vehicles as of 2019. 5.7 million neat-ethanol only light-vehicles built in Brazil since 1979, pp. 62–63. with 2.4 to 3.0 million vehicles still in use by 2003. and 1.22 million units as of December 2011. 70,200 fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) powered with hydrogen by the end of 2022. South Korea had 29,500 units, the United States 15,000, China 11,200, and Japan 7,700. In 2022, annual sales amounted to 15,391 vehicles. Hydrogen FCEV sales as a percentage of market share among electric vehicles (BEVs, PHEVs and FCEVs) declined for the 6th consecutive year.
Mainstream commercial technologies Flexible fuel
A flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) or dual-fuel vehicle (DFF) is an alternative fuel automobile or light duty truck with a multifuel engine that can use more than one fuel, usually mixed in the same tank, and the blend is burned in the combustion chamber together. These vehicles are colloquially called flex-fuel, or flexifuel in Europe, or just flex in Brazil. FFVs are distinguished from bi-fuel vehicles, where two fuels are stored in separate tanks. The most common commercially available FFV in the world market is the ethanol flexible-fuel vehicle, with the major markets concentrated in the United States, Brazil, Sweden, and some other European countries.
Ethanol flexible-fuel vehicles have standard gasoline engines that are capable of running with ethanol and gasoline mixed in the same tank. These mixtures have "E" numbers which describe the percentage of ethanol in the mixture, for example, E85 is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. (See common ethanol fuel mixtures for more information.) Though technology exists to allow ethanol FFVs to run on any mixture up to E100, in the U.S. and Europe, flex-fuel vehicles are optimized to run on E85. This limit is set to avoid cold starting problems during very cold weather.
Over 65 million flex fuel automobiles, motorcycles and light duty trucks by the end of 2021, led by Brazil with 38.3 million and the United States with 27 million. Other markets were Canada (1.6 million by 2014), and Sweden (243,100 through December 2014). As of September 2013, see Graph "Bought flexifuel vehicles" Download file "Definitiva nyregistreringar 2012" see table: "Nyregistrerade miljöbilar per typ december 2012" with summary of E85 passenger car registrations for 2012 and 2011. Download file "Nyregistreringar december 2014 (prel)" see table: "Nyregistrerade miljöbilar per typ december 2014" with summary of E85 passenger car registrations for 2014 and 2013 The Brazilian flex fuel fleet includes over 4 million flexible-fuel motorcycles produced since 2009 through March 2015. In Brazil, 65% of flex-fuel car owners were using ethanol fuel regularly in 2009, while, the actual number of American FFVs being run on E85 is much lower; surveys conducted in the U.S. have found that 68% of American flex-fuel car owners were not aware they owned an E85 flex.
There have been claims that American automakers are motivated to produce flex-fuel vehicles due to a loophole in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requirements, which gives the automaker a "fuel economy credit" for every flex-fuel vehicle sold, whether or not the vehicle is actually fueled with E85 in regular use. This loophole allegedly allows the U.S. auto industry to meet CAFE fuel economy targets not by developing more fuel-efficient models, but by spending between US$100 and US$200 extra per vehicle to produce a certain number of flex-fuel models, enabling them to continue selling less fuel-efficient vehicles such as SUVs, which netted higher profit margins than smaller, more fuel-efficient cars.
Plug-in electric Battery-electric
Battery electric vehicles (BEVs), also known as all-electric vehicles (AEVs), are electric vehicles whose main energy storage is in the chemical energy of batteries. BEVs are the most common form of what is defined by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) as zero emission vehicle (ZEV) because they produce no tailpipe emissions at the point of operation. The electrical energy carried on board a BEV to power the motors is obtained from a variety of battery chemistries arranged into battery packs. For additional range genset trailers or pusher trailers are sometimes used, forming a type of hybrid vehicle. Batteries used in electric vehicles include "flooded" lead-acid, absorbed glass mat, NiCd, nickel metal hydride, Li-ion, Li-poly and zinc-air batteries.
Attempts at building viable, modern battery-powered electric vehicles began in the 1950s with the introduction of the first modern (transistor controlled) electric car – the Henney Kilowatt, even though the concept was out in the market since 1890. Despite the poor sales of the early battery-powered vehicles, development of various battery-powered vehicles continued through the mid-1990s, with such models as the General Motors EV1 and the Toyota RAV4 EV.
Battery powered cars had primarily used lead-acid batteries and NiMH batteries. Lead-acid batteries' recharge capacity is considerably reduced if they're discharged beyond 75% on a regular basis, making them a less-than-ideal solution. NiMH batteries are a better choice, but are considerably more expensive than lead-acid. Lithium-ion battery powered vehicles such as the Venturi Fetish and the Tesla Roadster have recently demonstrated excellent performance and range, and nevertheless is used in most mass production models launched since December 2010.
Expanding on traditional lithium-ion batteries predominately used in today's battery electric vehicles, is an emerging science that is paving the way to utilize a carbon fiber structure (a vehicle body or chassis in this case) as a structural battery. Experiments being conducted at the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden are showing that when coupled with Lithium-ion insertion mechanisms, an enhanced carbon fiber structure can have electromechanical properties. This means that the carbon fiber structure itself can act as its own battery/power source for propulsion. This would negate the need for traditional heavy battery banks, reducing weight and therefore increasing fuel efficiency.
, several neighborhood electric vehicles, city electric cars and series production highway-capable electric cars and utility vans have been made available for retails sales, including Tesla Roadster, GEM cars, Buddy, Mitsubishi i MiEV and its rebadged versions Peugeot iOn and Citroën C-Zero, Chery QQ3 EV, JAC J3 EV, Nissan Leaf, Smart ED, Mia electric, BYD e6, Renault Kangoo Z.E., Bolloré Bluecar, Renault Fluence Z.E., Ford Focus Electric, BMW ActiveE, Renault Twizy, Tesla Model S, Honda Fit EV, RAV4 EV second generation, Renault Zoe, Mitsubishi Minicab MiEV, Roewe E50, Chevrolet Spark EV, Fiat 500e, BMW i3, Volkswagen e-Up!, Nissan e-NV200, Volkswagen e-Golf, Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive, Kia Soul EV, BYD e5, and Tesla Model X. The world's all-time top selling highway legal electric car is the Nissan Leaf, released in December 2010, with global sales of more than 250,000 units through December 2016. , the Nissan Leaf is the world's best-selling plug-in car in history with more than 250,000 units delivered, followed by the Tesla Model S with over 158,000 sales (which may soon replace the Nissan Leaf in most EV sales), the Volt/Ampera family of vehicles with 134,500 vehicles sold, and the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV with about 116,500 units sold through November 2016. These are the only plug-in electric cars so far with over 100,000 global sales. The Tesla Model S, released in June 2012, ranks second with global sales of over 158,000 cars delivered . The Renault Kangoo Z.E. utility van is the leader of the light-duty all-electric segment with global sales of 25,205 units through December 2016. Includes passenger and light utility variants. Click on "(décembre 2016)" to download the file "XLSX - 239 Ko" for CYTD sales in 2016, and open the tab "Sales by Model". Click on "+ Voir plus" (See more) to download the files "Ventes mensuelles du groupe (décembre 2011) (xls, 183 Ko)" "Ventes mensuelles (décembre 2012) (xls, 289 Ko)" - Ventes mensuelles (décembre 2013) (xlsx, 227 Ko)" - "XLSX - 220 Ko Ventes mensuelles (décembre 2014)" - "Ventes mensuelles (décembre 2015)" to download the file "XLSX - 227 Ko" for 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 sales. Sales figures for 2013 were revised in the 2014 report.
Plug-in hybrid