Hero to launch India's first 100% ethanol motorcycles on June 3

Hero MotoCorp will unveil its maiden flex-fuel motorcycle on June 3, marking a notable step in the company’s push toward alternative fuels. The launch will take place in the presence of Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.

New fuel option

What makes this motorcycle significant is its ability to operate on 100% ethanol. That sets it apart from the flex-fuel two-wheelers currently on sale in India. Suzuki Gixxer SF 250 and Honda CB 300F, for instance, are flex-fuel models but are tuned for E85 rather than pure ethanol use.

The move comes as the government continues to push for wider fuel diversification. After the West Asia crisis, oil companies have been encouraged to improve the availability of flex-fuel at petrol pumps, giving these alternative fuel vehicles a stronger use case in the market.

What Hero has shown before

Hero MotoCorp had already previewed its flex-fuel direction at the 2025 Bharat Mobility Expo. There, the company displayed an ethanol-based version of the HF Deluxe, developed at its Centre for Innovation and Technology (CIT) in Jaipur.

That prototype used a 100cc BS6 engine and was engineered to work with ethanol-blended fuel from E20 to E85. It was presented as part of the company’s wider response to the government’s push for cleaner and renewable fuel technologies.

Why flex-fuel matters

Flex-fuel vehicles are built to run on petrol-ethanol blends with different ethanol levels. The idea is to cut dependence on fossil fuels and lower emissions compared with standard petrol-powered vehicles. For India, this technology also fits into the broader effort to raise ethanol usage in transport fuel.

Hero’s wider market position

Hero MotoCorp is launching this new product while maintaining a strong domestic position. In FY26, its domestic sales rose 8.09 per cent year-on-year to 60,66,048 units from 56,11,758 units in FY25. That kept it ahead of Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, which posted domestic volumes of 57,49,275 units in FY26, up 7.93 per cent from 53,26,652 units in FY25.

At present, Hero sells E20-compliant two-wheelers alongside electric models under its Vida brand.

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