Opinion – Eduardo Sodré: Vibra Energia launches new versions of gasoline additives Petrobras

Vibra Energia launches its first fuel after taking over the operations of BR Distribuidora. The company presents the new generations of Petrobras Grid and Petrobras Podium gasoline additives, which are now arriving at gas stations in Rio and São Paulo. The start of national distribution is scheduled for the end of March.

According to the company, the new options reduce by up to 98% the formation of dirt inside the engine and reduce the friction between the metallic parts in relation to common gasoline. With this, the company claims that there is an improvement in operation, with consequent reductions in consumption and pollutant emissions.

Engineers, however, are cautious when sizing gains. Vibra did not disclose how much this possible reduction in refueling expenses would be, nor how much was invested in the change.

The improvements should be more noticeable in cars with a few years of use, whose engines have greater deposits. The tests carried out in Brazil and Germany involved flex-fuel engines from Fiat and Ford, in addition to a Mercedes.

The development considered the current percentage of 27% of anhydrous ethanol added to the fossil fuel. That’s why the common gasoline available at pumps is called E27.

Vibra worked in partnership with Basf, which developed the set of additives called Tecno 3, with production in Germany. Despite the development and logistics costs, the company claims that the modification will not be passed on to prices – nor will it generate value reductions.

For fuel distributors, investing in additives means improving profitability. “The benefit has to be worth it for the consumer to pay those extra cents [por litro]”, says Maurício Fontenelle, responsible for the areas of brands, services and new business development at Vibra.

The company has a licensing agreement with Petrobras – it is valid for ten years and can be renewed for another ten years. Therefore, you can use the brand in its more than 8,000 stations spread across the country.

Although the current themes are the greater use of biofuels and the advancement of electrified mobility, Vibra defends the need to improve gasoline and diesel. According to a study mentioned by the company, around 40% of the global energy matrix will still have fossil origins in 2040.

At this point, Brazil can take some competitive advantage, despite the bottlenecks and costs that hinder the massification of electric vehicles. The viable alternative is the use of ethanol and biomethane.

These options could make the country less dependent on oil in 2040 than the global average. According to Vibra, fossil fuels should represent around 33% of the national energy matrix 18 years from now.

However, environmental gains depend on the greater use of ethanol – which, for reasons of cost, has been neglected by flex-fuel car owners in most states.

“Ethanol is very connected to the perception of cheap fuel, but it has evolved a lot”, says Fontenelle. “It’s a harvest product, this feature brings fluctuations throughout the year.”

The sugarcane derivative will also receive a new additive, which is still under development. The Ethanol Grid was launched in August 2019, but it is only easily found at gas stations in São Paulo.