Porsche has been working on a synthetic fuel for internal combustion engines that, the automaker says, could make gas cars every bit as environmentally-friendly as electric cars.
In an interview with EVO magazine, Porsche Vice President of Motorsport and GT Cars, Dr. Frank Walliser, says the new 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.”
Called eFuel, the new formula can fuel gasoline-powered cars today with no modifications necessary.
Researchers consider synthetic fuels promising because despite the growth of EVs, most cars are likely to be gasoline-powered for years to come. Government statistics show that the average vehicle today is more than a decade old and still running.
Even today, Americans buy far more hybrids than electric cars.
It also isn’t yet clear that Porsche’s fuel could be an easy substitute throughout the country’s infrastructure. Questions also remain on how complex and costly the manufacturing process might be. Porsche says it will have 130,000 gallons of fuel ready by 2022…but Americans burn about 3,910,200,000 gallons every day.
