'My Car Will Be Ruined Soon': YouTuber's E20 Fuel Claim Draws Mercedes Rebuttal, Vlog Goes Viral

Popular Indian YouTuber Saurav Joshi has landed in the middle of a controversy over ethanol-blended E20 petrol after claiming in a vlog that the fuel had severely damaged his Mercedes-Benz SUV's mileage. The video, which drew millions of views, prompted a rare public rebuttal from Mercedes-Benz India and comments from opposition leaders including Arvind Kejriwal and Akhilesh Yadav, as the debate around India's E20 rollout intensified.

YouTuber's claim sparks the row

In the vlog, Joshi said his Mercedes mileage had collapsed after switching to ethanol-blended fuel. "My Mercedes used to give 16 to 17 km per litre mileage, but now it's dropped to 5. My car will be ruined soon," Joshi said, attributing the drop to E20 petrol. The claim quickly went viral, with opposition politicians citing the video to question the government's ethanol blending programme. Joshi later edited the segment out of the video after facing scepticism online over the accuracy of his mileage figures.

Mercedes-Benz issues customer advisory

Mercedes-Benz India responded with a customer advisory defending the compatibility of its vehicles with E20 fuel. The company said customer safety, vehicle reliability and performance remain of paramount importance to it, and confirmed that all its petrol BS-VI vehicles, including post-2020 models such as the GLC 300, are materially compatible with E20 fuel and certified accordingly by relevant authorities. The advisory added that the company remains committed to sustainable mobility and is happy to support customers with any technical queries. Mercedes-Benz also pointed to typical real-world mileage figures of 10 to 12 km per litre for such models, which industry watchers noted was already lower than the numbers Joshi cited before the fuel switch.

Gadkari weighs in on mileage complaints

The controversy also drew a response from Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari after journalist Megha Prasad raised a similar complaint, saying her petrol car's mileage had dropped from 11 to 12 kmpl to 7 kmpl, which she attributed to E20 ethanol-blended petrol. Gadkari said personal mileage checks done by simply filling the tank are unreliable and should instead be verified using machines at authorised service centres. He advised vehicle owners facing such issues while still under warranty to file a complaint with their dealer and pursue consumer court if necessary. Gadkari said the mileage problems were more likely linked to fuel adulteration rather than ethanol blending itself, and that such matters are typically handled between companies and insurers.

India has been pushing ahead with its E20 rollout, aiming to complete the transition by early 2026 as part of efforts to cut oil imports and reduce vehicular emissions. The government has acknowledged that ethanol-blended fuel can lead to a 3 to 5 percent dip in fuel efficiency compared to pure petrol, a trade-off it has defended as necessary for the country's broader energy and environmental goals. The Joshi episode has nonetheless reignited public debate over whether vehicle owners are being adequately informed about the efficiency trade-offs of the ethanol blending programme.