Flexible-fuel vehicles in Brazil

Brazil has pioneered the use of ethanol derived from sugar-cane as motor fuel.
Ethanol-driven cars have been on sale there for 25 years, but they have been enjoying a revival since flex-fuel models first appeared in March 2003.
Just 48,200 flex-fuel cars were sold in Brazil in 2003, but the total had reached 1.2 million by the end of last year and had since topped two million, the Brazilian motor manufacturers' association Anfavea said.
In Brazil, ethanol fuel is produced from sugar cane which is a more efficient source of fermentable carbohydrates than corn as well as much easier to grow and process. Brazil has the tropical climate that is required for the productive culture of sugarcane. Brazil has the largest sugar cane crop in the world, and is the largest exporter of ethanol in the world. High government sales taxes on gasoline, as well as government subsidies for ethanol, have cultivated a profitable national ethanol industry.
Since the oil crisis in the 70's, Brazil has been selling ethanol as a fuel. Car manufacturers modified gasoline engines to support ethanol characteristics (Changes are on compression ratio, amount of fuel injected, replacement of materials that would get corroded by the contact with ethanol, and an auxiliary cold-start system that injects gasoline from a small tank in the engine compartment to help starting when cold) and have been selling ethanol powered cars since then. However, flexible fuel technology started being developed only on the end of the 90's. The flexible fuel car is built with a ethanol ready engine and one fuel tank.
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