Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website Fiat Chrysler Automobiles presents jointly with Dor Chemicals and IFCI, the result of the M15 Project – the first methanol-powered Euro 6 vehicle, the Fiat 500 M15
november 02, 2016 - FCA Corporate

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles presents jointly with Dor Chemicals and IFCI, the result of the M15 Project – the first methanol-powered Euro 6 vehicle, the Fiat 500 M15

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is taking part in the 2016 Fuel Choices Summit, an international #event held from November 2 to November 3 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Together with its sister Company CNH Industrial, #fca presented the results and updates regarding their activities related to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)  signed in February 2015 between #fca, Iveco (a brand of CNH Industrial), Magneti Marelli (a brand of FCA) and the Israel Fuel Choices Initiative (IFCI). This MOU established a co-operation between the parties to develop alternative fuel and natural gas-based technologies.

 

The Government of Israel has set the objective to establish the Country as an alternative fuels knowledge hub by supporting the development and implementation of next-generation technologies and by reducing the country's oil consumption by 60% within 2025. In this context, the mission of the Fuel Choices Initiative, Israel's national program for alternative fuels in transportation, is to serve as a catalyst for the reduction of the world's dependence on crude oil by establishing Israel as a center of knowledge and industry in the field of sustainable alternative fuels.

 

During the fourth annual edition of the Fuel Choices Summit, innovations in alternative fuels and smart mobility will be explore and exhibited, with a dialogue about the world's most forward-thinking approaches to transportation, cutting edge technologies and future business models.
FCA has been cooperating with IFCI over the last two years to target these objectives. With its lineup of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, the Company is a recognized leader in the development, manufacture and distribution of vehicles powered by compressed natural gas (CNG), biomethane and alcohols fuels, through advanced multi-fuel technologies. #fca is strongly committed to reducing the environmental impact of road transport, a key pillar of its sustainability policies.

 

FCA has pioneered the development of alternative technologies to reduce emissions into the atmosphere by offering its customers reliable, affordable, sustainable and highly innovative products. In particular, the Company's innovations in natural gas technologies and alcohol flex fuel systems have revolutionized the transportation energy matrix in several countries. One example is Italy, which has been transformed into the best European country in terms of the number of vehicles running on alternative fuels. International success stories include Brazil which is now the only country in the world with a real alternative to conventional fuels in transportation thanks to the innovative flex fuel system software introduced by Magneti Marelli. Today the country counts a 50-50 consumption split between gasoline and ethanol.

 

The M15 Project

FCA's technological excellence and know how in the field of alternative fuels have already contributed to a more sustainable and less polluting transportation fuel matrix in several global markets.
Building upon this in Israel, #fca presented the outcome of the "M15 Project", conducted in collaboration with DOR Chemicals, one of Israel's foremost fuel components producers, and the Israel Fuel Choices Initiative in order to develop methanol in terms of production, blending, infrastructure, regulations and automotive technologies.

 

FCA and DOR Chemicals initiated the project after the signing of the MOU with IFCI, combining their respective deep and innovative knowledge in alternative fuels. #fca presented the result of the project this week at the Fuel Choices Summit: the Fiat 500 M15 is the first ever retail-ready vehicle to comply with EU Euro 6 regulations that is also able to run on a blend of gasoline and methanol from 0 up to 15%. The pioneer product will be marketed in Israel by MCA - the official Israeli importer of #fca Group. This marks an important milestone in the field of alternative fuels.
A Fiat 500 M15 running on a blend of 85% gasoline and 15% methanol, which is compliant with the Euro 6 New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), delivers a 2% CO2 reduction compared with the same Euro 6 version of the vehicle running on gasoline, while maintaining the same vehicle performance.
The adoption of low carbon and oxygenated fuel such as methanol mitigates the emissions of CO2, hydrocarbons and particle matter. As such, the Fiat 500M15 is bi-fuel and can run on both M15 and gasoline, as well as any mixture of the two fuels. 
In May 2016 the M15 Israeli fuel standard was issued by the Ministry of Transport, making Israel the first country in the world to issue a national standard for methanol flex fuel vehicles that also comply with the EU's Euro 6 regulation.
Methanol, that can be produced - among other feedstock -  from methane (a natural gas component), can be distributed using existing infrastructures already in place for oil (vessels, railroads, trucks, pipelines, etc.), even if some materials have to be adapted to make them compatible with this fuel.  A refueling station, for instance, can be quite simply converted into a methanol station.
In 2006, the Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, George A. Olah and two co-authors, G. K. Surya Prakash and Alain Goeppert, published "Beyond oil & gas: the methanol economy", pinpointing methanol as a very effective solution for sustainable transportation. In 2013, during the first Fuel Choices Summit, Olah and Surya Prakash received the Eric and Sheila Samson Award. The presentation of a commercially-available Euro 6-compliant M15 vehicle at this edition of the Summit marked an important milestone for the development of alternative fuels.