Car manufacturers have been investing heavily into battery electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell powertrains as the world races to zero emissions. However, synthetic fuels have caught the eye of some carmakers, with Porsche claiming that combustion engines powered by so-called eFuels are as clean the equivalent EV.
Dr Frank Walliser, vice president of Porsche’s GT division, said during the launch of the new 911 GT3 that “synthetic fuels are very important to allow us to reduce our CO2 output. Emissions are way better than current pump fuel, with less particulates and less NOx produced”.
“Synthetic fuel is cleaner and there is no bi-product and when we start full production we expect a CO2 reduction of 85%. 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”, he added.
It comes as little surprise that Porsche, particularly its GT division, is keen on the development of synthetic fuels. The signature howl of a naturally aspirated flat six engine is a key selling point of Porsche’s GT models. Even the 718, a series that downsized to turbocharged flat-four engines to improve emissions, moved back to a flat-six power for the sportier GTS 4.0 a year ago in the name of noise.
Synthetic fuels could give combustion engines a stay of execution. One of the key benefits of eFuels is that cars already on the road won’t need to be adapted and with most countries sporting a strong filling station network, the rollout of synthetic fuels would be far simpler than the move over to EVs.
However, the UK is on course to ban the sale of new combustion cars by 2030, with countries across Europe having similar deadlines. For synthetic fuels to succeed, it would require significant changes to legislation.
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Keyword: Porsche: ‘well to wheel’ of synthetic fuels on par with EVs