Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 14
By Khalid Kazimov -- Trend:
One decade after Iran stopped producing Paykan, the country saved on over four billion liters of gasoline, Hossein Hashemian, an official with the Iranian Staff for the Management of Fuel Transportation said.
The official said the fuel rating of Iranian-made cars is 30 percent inferior to the world's current average, Shahrvand newspaper reported Sept. 14.
The organization has invested $79 million in a project related to optimizing fuel rating in cars. Brand new Iranian cars come with a mileage of 8.5 liters per 100 kilometers while the number is 6.5 for the international average.
"We still see grade E, F, and even D vehicles being produced in large numbers in the country," Hashemian regretted.
He also said that Iranian car manufacturers do not regard R&D programs as a necessity and continue to manufacture the same cars for many decades.
While gasoline consumption in Iran hit 77 million liters Sept. 13, the country's gasoline output is currently around 64 million liters, so it needs to import the rest.
Currently the Islamic Republic only imports Euro-4 gasoline.
Iran is now importing 6.5 million liters of gasoline on average per day.
Gasoline consumption amounted to 71.4 million liters on average per day in spring, compared to 69.4 million liters in spring 2014.
Iran used to import 40 percent of its needed gasoline in 2009. But the international sanctions forced it to produce gasoline domestically by adding lead or some poisonous chemical catalysts to the product.
The administration of President Hassan Rouhani ordered to stop the distribution of substandard gasoline.
Edited by CN