A flex-fuel vehicle is a car that doesn't care! Wouldn't it be good that you could pour into your car's fuel nozzle any slush you like? Flex-fuel vehicles can go on gasoline, ethanol or a mixture of gasoline and ethanol of any concentration. Sensors will detect the mixture and adjust spark timing accordingly.
It is possible to convert almost any car into a flex fuel vehicle. The conversion costs usually pay off within the first year of operation because ethanol is so much cheaper than gasoline. Besides running on ethanol can be your way of saving planet from environmental crisis.
There is a chance that you can buy a brand new flex-fuel vehicle from your local dealer. Surprisingly, more than 14 million such vehicles, both converted and newly produced, are in use around the world. Majority of them operates in Brazil, a similar amount runs the American freeways leaving Europe lagging far behind with no more than 500,000 flex-fuel vehicles.
The first flex-fuel vehicle was produced by Henry Ford from 1908 to 1925. Then the concept was forgotten until Brazil re-introduced it in the seventies. Don't think of the flex-fuel vehicles as small, ridiculous eco-cars. Come on, you can buy a GMC Yukon XL and run it on ethanol. A city bus and the enormous 18-wheeler truck can be powered by ethanol.
The most popular factory produced green cars in the world are Saab 9-5, Volvo V70, Peugeot 307 BioFlex, Ford Crown Victoria, Chevrolet Tahoe and Dodge Caravan.
Please note that flex fuel vehicles and bi-fuel cars are not the same thing. Bi-fuel means that two fuels are kept in separate tanks. You cannot mix them.