The first generation of heated cold start systems for flex fuel vehicles in Brazil were launched in 2009 and have solved most of the issues around the former gasoline sub-tank concept. This new technological approach focused on concerns like the user experience by having the need to fulfill the sub-tank, on complains related to possible old gasoline left inside, in the complexity of the electro mechanic nozzles and other possible improvements.
Some years later, the second generation expanded the initial cold start application to a mature drivability enhancement and further possibility of usage as a support for emission reduction. A leaner electronic control and heat sink concept also represented an alternative to the first generation, and an engineered plastic fuel rail replaced the first metallic concept, which was an option to the initial concerns about the combination of high temperatures and fuel.
This paper will show the evolution of the previous generations of heating systems for ethanol, presenting the engineering advance that resulted in a new heating concept, strategy simplification, new components and the possibility of system usage to perform functionalities that were not foreseeing on its first ideation. Further laboratory and vehicle experiments will demonstrate the theory and simulation behind the 3rd generation concept.