Although the sale of new thermal cars should be prohibited in Europe from 2035, Porsche reaffirms loud and clear its opposition to fully electric ones. The German firm is especially committed to synthetic fuel to continue offering internal combustion engines in the future.
Cars equipped with a combustion engine (gasoline and diesel) will soon be banned from selling in Europe, and this from 2035. In any case, this is what the big authorities are planning, although in reality it is a little more complicated than that. . In fact, the European Parliament voted in favor of this measure a few weeks ago, going in the direction of the European Commission a little earlier. Unless this measure is now subject to a vote by member states. And that’s where it gets stuck, since not all countries are really in favor of it.
Porsche and Ferrari are against
This is particularly the case for Poland, but also Italy and Germany. So much so that our neighbors on the other side of the Rhine have decided not to vote in favor of this measure. The reason ? The Government wants to continue selling thermal cars in the Old Continent if they run on synthetic fuel. Because if Europe has not given details so far, it is likely that this type of alternative is not authorized.
This will also be the case with plug-in hybrids, which are far from environmentally friendly anyway. A situation that, therefore, does not please Germany, while one of its flagship manufacturers is actively working on the synthetic fuel development. It is, of course, Porsche, heavily invested in this technology that is being talked about more and more. As the site explains Bloombergour neighbor across the Rhine, as well as Italy will debate with the European Union in the coming days.
The objective would be to see how it would be possibleinclude this alternative in waivers by 2035. Because if most car manufacturers are increasing their investments to massively electrify their range, such as Ford, Renault or Volkswagen, among others, Porsche is taking the opposite view of the trend. This is also the case with Ferrari, which is also working more quietly on the development of alternative fuels.
However, the Maranello firm does not want to put all its eggs in one basket and will continue to offer electric models in the future. In fact, it plans to launch its first zero-emission (exhaust) vehicle in 2025 while claiming that 80% of its sales will be hybrid and electric cars by 2030. At the moment, it already offers two rechargeable models. , namely the SF90 Stradale and the 296 GTB.
still some obstacles
For its part, Porsche is also working on the launch of several electric models, while it has already offered its Taycan since 2019. Among them, a high-end SUV positioned above the Cayenne, as well as a new version of its Macan. But if the firm also believes in this motorization, it will rather be to increase its profits, while electric cars would be more profitable.
end of december, Porsche inaugurated its first synthetic fuel plant (Power-to-X technology) located in Chile, which is entering its first pilot phase. Thus, first of all, approximately 130,000 liters of eFuel should be produced to supply the brand’s vehicles entered in the Mobil 1 Supercup competition. By 2025, the manufacturer expects to produce 55 million litersthen 550 million two years later.
However, this alternative is still very expensive, since the company Zero Petroleum commercializes its fuel about 56 euros per liter. For its part, Porsche hopes to one day be able to sell its synthetic fuel at the same price as gasoline or diesel. For this, I would like the States to implement aid to make it more accessible to users. The idea would be tax fossil fuels more to finance this alternative considered cleaner.
The concern is that this is not necessarily the case. Indeed, if this type of fuel does not use oil and is produced mainly from water, it still requires a very significant amount of electricity. However, the tensions in the network are already very high, and the origin of this energy is not always green. The rest, e-fuel does not reduce exhaust emissionssuch as fine particles or nitrogen oxides. Therefore, it is not certain that the public authorities agree to favor this solution, which is not 100% virtuous, although electric cars are not either.
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