Bioethanol Road Test - Introduction

Bioenthanol-powered cars are likely to be the next big thing, and offer the best of both worlds. They can run on bioethanol (effectively alcohol derived from fermented cereal crops), petrol or any mixture of the two.

The concept of bioethanol is simple. The crops grown to produce the renewable bio-fuel absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This almost cancels out the carbon dioxide produced when the fuel is burnt.

An engine using bioethanol produces no sulphur and generates less carbon dioxide than an engine using petrol. Currently, Saab has a BioPower version of its 9-5, Ford is selling the Focus Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV) and Renault has just released details for a Bio-Power Clio.

In theory, this all sounds great, but just how useable is one of these bio-cars when compared to a petrol equivalent?

We've exhaustively tested a conventional petrol Focus over a period of a year, and found it a reliable and practical daily drive. We wanted to see if a Focus FFV made a sensible alternative, so we spent a week with a bioethanol Focus to see how it fared as a small family car.