Search Results

As a possible alternative fuel of the future, methanol plays an important role in Volkswagen's research programs. Within this framework continuous progress has been made in the development of concepts over more than 15 years. Various large-scale test programs have proved the applicability of methanol as a fuel. These involved both fuel blends with gasoline and diesel fuel as well as virtually pure methanol. To round off these projects the possible use of ethanol was also considered. While energy saving and the lowest possible consumption of energy was the top priority for vehicle concepts in the early years, the environmental advantages of methanol as a fuel have increased in importance in the last few years.

Methanol as a fuel for spark ignition engines offers a lot of advantages in comparison to gasoline. Results of a prototype passenger car fueled with pure methanol show promising aspects of lower energy consumption, higher energy output and more favorable emission figures. Modifications on the engine are limited, the unfavorable cold start and warm up behavior of pure methanol can be eliminated by the use of suitable additives.