18 km/l using ethanol? Check the history of Volkswagen Gol

Can you imagine being able to run an average of 18 km/l using ethanol as fuel? This hypothesis appears to be only part of the hunter’s story or imagination. However, know that a lot could have already been saved, even the famous biofuel from sugarcane.

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40 years ago, Volkswagen established a competition with 520 taxi drivers in São Paulo (SP). They were all driving the same car, a Volkswagen Gol, using ethanol. The goal was to find out which competitors will be able to detect the most advantageous consumption in the kilometer / liter ratio. The winning duo managed to climb an average of 18.32 km / l.

Volkswagen has proven that you can do 18 km / l with ethanol

At that time, in 1982, the manufacturer’s announcement said that competitors had a mileage of 37.2 km. The “VW Gol a Álcool Economic Championship” took up 85% of the circuit held within the city. The question that remains is: Why isn’t this being noticed nowadays, in the face of so much technology?

What happens is that at that time there was no policy regulating the emission of polluting gases. The change increased “spend” on biofuels by 30% compared to gasoline. In the past, the difference from one to the other was only 15%.

Renato Romeo, an engineer at the Mauá de Tecnologia Institute, explained to Uol Gateway that in the 1980s it was more economical to use ethanol, because more air could be used for combustion. This made it possible for alcohol to reach 85% of the same efficiency as gasoline. Currently, this percentage is 70%.

Ethanol becomes less efficient over time

The engineer also said the flex engine has become a new villain against ethanol’s efficiency. This agent is derived from gasoline, which needs a lower compression ratio than ethanol to work well. In this story, it was he who lost, as well as gasoline, since the compression ratio should be average. By the way, know that current gasoline can consist of up to 27% ethanol.

The way out for more fuel-friendly engines would be to go back to offering cars that run exclusively on a certain type of fuel.