While the sale of new thermal cars should be banned in Europe from 2035, Porsche reaffirms loud and clear its opposition to all-electric. The German firm is betting in particular on synthetic fuel to continue to offer internal combustion engines in the future.
Cars equipped with a combustion engine (gasoline and diesel) will soon be banned from sale in Europe, and this from 2035. In any case, this is what the major authorities are planning, even if in reality, it is a little more complicated than that. Indeed, the European Parliament voted in favor of this measure a few weeks ago, going in the direction of the European Commission a little earlier. Except that this measure is now subject to the vote of the 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 of Poland, but also Italy and Germany. So much so that our neighbors across the Rhine have decided not to vote in favor of this measure. The reason ? The government wants thermal cars to continue to be sold on the Old Continent whether they are powered by synthetic fuel. Because if Europe has so far not given details, it is likely that this type of alternative is not authorized.
This will also be the case for plug-in hybrids, which are far from being environmentally friendly anyway. A situation which therefore does not please Germany, while one of its emblematic manufacturers is actively working on the development of synthetic fuel. It is of course Porsche, very invested in this technology which is more and more talked about. As the site explains Bloombergour neighbor across the Rhine as well as Italy will discuss with the European Union in the coming days.
The objective would be to see how it would be possible toinclude this alternative in the exemptions for 2035. Because if most car manufacturers are increasing their investments to massively electrify their range, like 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 discreetly on the development of alternative fuels.
However, the Maranello firm does not want to put all its eggs in one basket and will still offer electric models in the future. Indeed, it plans to launch its very first zero-emission vehicle (exhaust) in 2025 while it claims that 80% of its sales will be made up of hybrid and electric cars by 2030. For the time being, it offers already two rechargeable models, namely the SF90 Stradale and the 296 GTB.
Still a few hurdles
For its part, Porsche is also working on the launch of several electric models, while it has already been offering 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 would rather be to increase its profits, while electric cars would be more profitable.
End December, Porsche inaugurated its first synthetic fuel plant (Power-to-X technology) located in Chile, which is entering its first pilot phase. Thus, approximately 130,000 liters of eFuel should be produced in the first place, supplying the brand’s vehicles entered in the Mobil 1 Supercup competition. By 2025, the manufacturer hopes to produce 55 million litersthen 550 million two years later.
However, this alternative is still very expensive, since the company Zero Petroleum markets its fuel about 56 euros per liter. For its part, Porsche hopes one day to be able to sell its synthetic fuel at the same price as gasoline or diesel. To do this, it would like the States to put in place aid to make it more accessible to users. The idea would be to tax fossil fuels more heavily to finance this alternative deemed cleaner.
The concern is that this is not necessarily the case. Indeed, if this type of fuel does not use oil and is notably produced from water, it still requires a very large quantity of electricity. However, the tensions on the network are already very strong, and the origin of this energy is not always green. Moreover, e-fuel does not reduce pollutant emissions at the exhaust, such as fine particles or nitrogen oxides. It is therefore not certain that the public authorities will agree to favor this solution which is not 100% virtuous, even if electric cars are far from it either.
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