Is "Synthetic fuel" the future of performance cars?

 Electric Vehicles are nowadays a trendsetter in Automotive Sector. The use of EVs has been drastically expanded in terms of saving the mother earth from pollution. But the love for ICE is still there. Evs for efficient for people those who are travelling within or a few miles away from the city, but it doesn't produce that much power to fuel up "performance cars". So, PORSCHE has been working and developing a new "lifesaver" fuel, the SYNTHETIC FUEL aka eFuel. So is "synthetic fuel" the future of performance cars?

   Porsche

Not only performance cars but also road-legal cars can opt for eFuels. The eFuels being tested by Porsche consists of CO2 and Hydrogen ingredients and are made using renewable energy. This significantly eliminates the greenhouse effect as compared to petroleum-based fuels.

Not only Porsche but also Audi, Bosch and McLaren are also into the testing of these fuels. "These fuels are as clean as EVs", said Porsche. The fuel has a liquid state which flows into the piston-cylinder arrangement for burning and hence producing power. 

Speaking of the recent launch of Porsche GT3, Porsche Vice President of Motorsport and GT cars Frank Walliser said the company will have its first small test batch—just 130,000 liters, or 34,340 gallons—of eFuel ready by 2022.

“Synthetic fuels are very important to allow us to reduce our CO2 output. Emissions are way better than current pump fuel, with fewer particulates and less NOx produced; synthetic fuels have between eight to ten components whereas petrol today has 30-40 and not all of them are welcome,” Walliser explained.

“Synthetic fuel is cleaner and there is no bi-product and when we start full production we expect a CO2 reduction of 85 per cent. 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.” said Frank to EVO Magazine UK publication.

   Porsche

Porsche is not the first automaker to investigate cleaner petroleum-substitute fuels, by any means. Audi produced its first batch of e-diesel in 2015, for example, and Bentley, Mazda, and McLaren have all said positive things about synthetic fuels. Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz has taken an opposing stance, with R&D chief Markus Schäfer having told the U.K. publication Autocar in 2020 that e-fuel is not a viable option and that the automaker is focusing solely on electrification.

-Amaan Attar