We believe that biofuels can offer a sustainable and lower-carbon alternative if certain criteria are met and sufficient volume is available. Today most biofuels used in transport are made from agricultural feedstock and are described as ‘first-generation.’ Ethanol originates from sugar-based feedstock such as sugar cane, sugar beet and cereals and can be blended with petrol. Biodiesel originates from oil-seed based feedstock such as rapeseed and can be added to diesel. The blend strength is shown by a numeral after the indicative letter: E10 or B7, for example, correspond to fuel with maximum 10% ethanol or maximum 7% biodiesel, respectively.

There are three main concerns in using biofuels as a fuel for road transport:

1) Biofuels must be produced with minimal CO2 emissions and other environmental impacts. Toyota is involved in a number of initiatives to establish criteria guaranteeing that biofuel is produced sustainably, such as the European Biofuels Technology Platform.

2) Biofuels must be ‘fit for purpose’ without environmental or vehicle-operational consequences. Toyota supports the work of the Committee of European Normalization (CEN) in drafting common fuel standards and calls for their simultaneous introduction across EU member states.

3) The production of biofuels should not compete with food production. Toyota supports second-generation biofuels. This is fuel made from waste material from the forestry or agricultural industries rather than from agricultural feedstock.

In particular Toyota is researching second-generation biofuels from wood or straw. This promises a number of benefits, amongst which is seamless use in existing vehicles and the prospect of even greater greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The production process is at an early stage of development and it may be several years before availability on a commercial scale.

Hydro-treated Vegetable Oil (HVO) is a promising low-carbon bio alternative to diesel and is available on the market today. Made by a refinery-based process converting vegetable oil to paraffin, HVO is a high-quality product that can be used in existing diesel vehicles with the potential substantially to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Toyota is a member of the Alliance for Synthetic Fuels in Europe (ASFE), promoting the use of synthetic fuel as a high-quality alternative to diesel.

Toyota supports low biofuel blends in Europe (E10 and B7) as a first step. Higher biofuel blends seem attractive if they meet agreed criteria on greenhouse gas performance, quality, sustainability, and availability.

Besides our support for biofuels, we are developing energy-efficient vehicles by introducing cars onto the European market that run on electricity, CNG, LPG and hydrogen.

The compatibility of Toyota and Lexus vehicles made for the European market with biofuels blends is listed below. This stance replaces all previous statements:

PETROL (status July 2010)
Toyota: All European petrol models made from January 1998 can use petrol blended with max 10% ethanol (E10) with the exception of the following models:

• Avensis 2.0 L with engine 1AZ-FSE made between July 2000 and October 2008; and
• Avensis 2.4 L with engine 2AZ-FSE made between June 2003 and October 2008.

Lexus: All European petrol models made from January 1998 can use petrol blended with max 10% ethanol (E10) with the exception of the following models:

• IS250 2.5 L V6 with engine 4GR-FSE made between August 2005 and September 2007;
• GS300 3.0 L V6 with engine 3GR-FSE made between January 2005 and September 2007; and
• LS460 4.6 L V8 with engine 1UR-FSE made between August 2006 and September 2007.

All Toyota and Lexus petrol cars that are not compatible with E10 can use petrol blended with max 5% ethanol (E5).

If you have any doubt regarding the compatibility of your vehicle, please contact your nearest Toyota or Lexus retailer.

DIESEL (status July 2010)
All European Toyota and Lexus diesel models are compatible with B7 meeting European standard EN590: 2009.

If you need additional information on Toyota and biofuels, please contact Dorothée Lahaussois, Regulatory & Technical Affairs (dorothee.lahaussois@toyota-europe.com)