With more than 70 percent of all Porsche 911 coupes ever made still in circulation, the German sports car maker is investing in e-Fuels to ensure that fuel-burning engines are not going extinct

Stuttgart, Germany

There’s little doubt that electric vehicles are the way forwards for the automotive industry, but for places with less developed power grid structures and enthusiasts of classic multi-cylinder internal combustion engined sports cars, petrol power is still a necessity. Porsche is getting a leg up into the future, placing its bets on synthetic fuels with a US$75 million investment in e-fuel manufacturer HIF Global LLC. 

Broadly speaking, e-fuels are synthetic fuels made from hydrogen and carbon dioxide using wind energy designed to replace traditional petrol. With taxes and prices of old-school fossil fuels rising and showing no signs of ever reversing, synthetic fuels could be the most viable way to keep petrol-powered cars on the road. 

Rather than relying on a third-party manufacturer, Porsche simply went ahead and acquired 12.5 percent of HIF GLobal. Representatives from HIF Global and Porsche have confirmed that cars already on the road now do not need to be modified to run on e-Fuel, they are a direct replacement for petrol derived from fossil fuels. 

There are plans to build 12 e-Fuel production sites in Texas, Chile and Australia, representing a total of US$50 billion of investments. When they are all up and running the sites are expected to have a total output of 150,000 barrels of fuel a day.

“Synthetic fuels offer attractive prospects across transportation sectors, from the automotive industry to the aviation and shipping sectors. In addition, e-methanol is an important raw material for other applications, such as in the chemical industry, where it can replace raw materials of fossil origin. E-methanol is an intermediate product that is produced during the generation of e-Fuel,” explained Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for R&D at Porsche.

We’ve seen plenty of starts and stops over the decades, with alternative fuels like E10, CNG, and hydrogen fuels all claiming to be the next big thing before electric power rose to the challenge, so what makes e-Fuel different?

For starters, Porsche states that e-Fuel at HIF Global is produced using wind energy. It claims that nearly CO2-neutral production of the fuel is possible because only a ‘minimal amount’ of CO2 is generated during its production. Another big plus is that e-Fuel will supposedly work with almost every modern petrol engine already in production, with the caveat that older classic cars may need to have a proper rebuild to ensure that the engine’s gaskets and seals are up to the task. 

However, independent tests have shown that tailpipe CO2 emissions are similar to present fossil fuels, and there is the matter of price; e-Fuel technology is still new and very expensive to produce. There are no exact figures but the industry talk is that its wholesale price will be more expensive than conventional fossil fuel, even before you factor in the taxes.

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Research from Europe’s Transport & Environment organisation in late 2021 has estimated that it could cost a driver around €10,000 more over a period of five years running a family car on e-Fuel compared to an EV.

Still, with production facilities already planned in three countries and further expansion on the cards, Porsche appears to want to get the jump on e-Fuel technology first, before other major players join the scene. It has potential to be big business as e-Fuel could become a major source of energy in the aviation and maritime shipping industries, both of which still do not use electric power.

It also has a vested interest in keeping the brand’s long lineage of heritage sports cars on the road and in drivable condition. According to Porsche, more than 70 percent of every 911 coupe produced since the lineup was born in 1964 is still on the road somewhere in the world, and it aims to keep them going sustainably for the foreseeable future with e-Fuels.

The brand has also stated that it expects 80 percent of its product lineup will consist of electric cars by 2030, while other makers such as Bentley, Jaguar, and even Mini have announced that they will be entirely electric by then. 

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This simply means that Porsche isn’t going to abandon its sporty internal combustion engines entirely anytime soon. Rather, expect it to become a niche segment that the brand hopes will run on synthetic fuels in a world that has declared itself to be done with pollutive fossil fuels. 

“We see ourselves as pioneers in e-Fuels and want to drive the technology. This is one building block in our clear, overall sustainability strategy, ” emphasised Steiner.  

It’s worth noting that Porsche is part of the Volkswagen Group, which has already committed to spending more than 1 billion euros during the next decade in the quest for more alternative energy sources for vehicles.

If e-fuels don’t quite work out, combustion engines aren’t dead yet: They can also run on hydrogen and burn it, to create far less air pollution as Toyota’s experimental race car has shown.

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