Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (MMC) recently announced plans to introduce flexible fuel vehicles (FFV) in both the U.S. and abroad. MMC will launch flex-fuel vehicles in Brazil within the year, and models are in development for the U.S. market by 2009.

FFVs are cars that can run on gasoline, ethanol, or a mixture of the two. The FFV system uses oxygen concentration sensors to measure the concentration of oxygen in exhaust gas passing through an ordinary exhaust system. This lets the car estimate the concentration of ethanol, optimizing the amounts of fuel injected and the ignition spark timing. Because of this, the engine can handle gas-ethanol mixtures from 0 percent to 100 percent.

Brazilian motorists will soon be able to use these engines once they are launched, but no information was given about which vehicles would benefit from the new powertrain. The overall design will produce engine and environmental performance (fuel consumption and exhaust emissions) on par with gasoline vehicles.