Until now the most vocal car brands supporting synthetic fuel development have been Porsche and Lamborghini, but now Ford has thrown its weight behind the cause.
The Blue Oval is one of the biggest vehicle producers in the world and despite investing heavily into its electric future – even going so far as to create the separate Model E company to focus on EVs – the brand also believes there is life left in the internal combustion engine, thanks to synthetic fuels.
Otherwise known as eFuels, this new technology is touted as a carbon-neutral liquid fuel that can replace traditional crude oil-based petrol and diesel. Porsche has been the most prominent advocate to date, even going so far as to invest in a new company that has plans to build eFuels production plants in three countries, including Australia, by the middle of the decade.
Trevor Worthington, who is Ford’s head of internal combustion engine programs and the Ford Performance sub-brand, believes there is a role for eFuels in the future of motoring.
“We really do think there is a role for synthetic fuel,” he said. “We’re working with a number of our suppliers on developing synthetic fuels.
He believes motor racing will play a key role in the development and uptake of synthetic fuel, so is pushing categories the brand competes in to make the switch. Ford has just announced it will race its seventh-generation Mustang in a variety of categories across the world, including Australia’s Supercars championship.
The local series has used ethanol-blended E85 in the past but Mr Worthington would clearly like to see things taken a step further and make the switch to 100 per cent eFuels when possible.
“In the Ford Performance realm, when it comes to racing and working with organisers of racing series, our view is that we have a role in that,” he explained. “So we’ve been actively working with racing series to say ‘we believe in [the] Paris [climate accords], we believe in climate change.’ One of the things about motorsport is noise and all that goes with it, so if you can keep that and use synthetic fuels or greener fuels that are going to be less overall harmful, we support that.”
While motor racing is viewed as a niche sport by many, Mr Worthington believes it can play a major role in making eFuels more acceptable and drive the eventual mass-production of them.
“Often these things start at the extreme edge and work their way into the mainstream, just because to create synthetic fuels en masse that countries could use from an infrastructure perspective is pretty expensive. So we’ve got to start somewhere and we believe racing series is where we can do that,” he said.
One major racing series that has committed to using eFuels from 2026 is Formula One, which will introduce a new set of engine regulations that season. This was one of the major factors in Porsche’s attempts to join F1, only to have its deal with Red Bull Racing collapse seemingly at the last minute.
However, don’t expect to see Ford back in F1 anytime soon if Mr Worthington has his say. Despite Ford being one of the most successful engine builders in the sport’s history – winning 176 races, the third most of all-time – his preference is to race the new Mustang.
“My personal view is we should put all of our chips on Mustang, that’s the thing that’s going to pay back to the company,” he said. “Obviously there’s history that our company has been in Formula One. I was alive when that happened but I wasn’t part of it. I don’t get the final vote, but my personal view is that we should put all our chips and spending all of our available intellect on doubling down on Mustang.”
With or without F1, Ford believes eFuels have a major role to play in the future of petrol and diesel-powered cars, but Mr Worthington didn’t give a timeframe on when he’d like to see them become publicly available.
Porsche has indicated its Tasmanian eFuels production facility will be operational by 2026 and will be capable of producing up to 100-million litres of synthetic fuel every year.
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