What is called Brazil using sugarcane and gasoline to produce a fuel for cars?

Flex-fuel (also called flexible-fuel) describes both:

- vehicles with internal combustion engines that are capable of running on multiple fuels (usually including gasoline); and

- the fuels themselves that are suitable for use in such engines.

Flex-fuel vehicles are designed to run on any mixture of gasoline and ethanol. Most flex-fuel cars produced currently are produced in Brazil, where about 90% of the cars sold in 2011 could use alternative fuels. There is a smaller demand for flex-fuel vehicles in other countries, with many being available only in California.

Although the most common flex-fuel vehicles use gasoline and ethanol, some diesel engines can be modified for flex-fuel use with dimethyl ether (DME). DME can make up to 20% of the diesel fuel used and requires very few engine modifications to implement.