Last December, Porsche announced a significant investment in the development, production, and distribution of a synthetic fuel that can replace gasoline. Now the German car maker believes internal combustion engines using its eFuel will make internal combustion cars as clean as an electric alternative.
“Synthetic fuels are very important to allow us to reduce our CO2 output,” Dr. Frank Walliser, Porsche Vice President of Motorsport and GT cars, told evo. “Emissions are way better than current pump fuel, with less particulates and less NOx produced. Synthetic fuels have 8–10 components, whereas petrol today has 30–40, and not all of them are welcome.
“Synthetic fuel is cleaner, and there is no byproduct. And when we start full production, we expect a CO2 reduction of 85 percent. From a ‘well to wheel’ perspective – and you have to consider the well to wheel impact of all vehicles – this will be the same level of CO2 produced in the manufacture and use of an electric vehicle.”
While the development of synthetic fuels remains in its infancy, Porsche sees eFuel as a way to keep classic cars on the road when and if fossil fuels are banned around the world.
“Seventy per cent of the cars we have ever built are still on the road,” Porsche CEO Oliver Blume told Hagerty in December, “and for many years to come there will be cars powered by combustion engines.”
Everything you need to know about using E10 fuel with your classic car
A suitable alternative to fossil fuels, as opposed to this manic ‘sign up’ to electric. Make available in all current petrol station locations, (instead of wires draped everywhere), fill up in 5 minutes and drive for 300/400 miles. That M.O. is where we need to get to, somehow. Sorted.
Agreed.
Fully agree with you John Ash. I believe this seemingly blinkered approach to battery power ( which we all know is not only pollutative in its manufacture but unsustainable in the mid to long term) is purely down to political reasons and investment opportunities which will unfortunately always dominate in this apparant journey to a ” green” future.
My way of solving the problem would be to legislate that motor manufacturers should produce much simpler cars in terms of electronic systems that would last several decades with basic maintenance and supplies of reasonably priced spare parts to be guaranteed. These vehicles would run on synthetic fuel with a possible long term development programme of hydrogen fuel cell for transportation in the long term.
I think efuel should be useful because for ev they need lithium batteries which leads to deforestation and in the process of manufacturing batteries I heard they make atleast 20% CO2 whereas the efuel does not produce any waste materials in the manufacturing process and does not lead to deforestation nor it harms the environment in anyway . Plus many countries will have to convert their fuel pump to electric pumps for ev whereas efuel can be filled up by using the old style fuel pump without any changes required .