Europe's 2035 combustion ban is not quite what it seems. In fact, the litigators in charge of the new legislation have conceded that combustion may live on if it can be made just as clean as EVs ought to be. One of the ways that this could happen is with the implementation of synthetic fuels, a technology that Porsche is very serious about.

Another Volkswagen-owned brand is now delving into the world of e-fuels, namely Lamborghini. Earlier this month, we learned that synthetic fuels were under consideration in Sant'Agata, and following reports from Australia, it appears that Lamborghini is going ahead with the idea, announcing that it will invest in the development of the technology.

Australian publication Drive was on hand for that country's launch of the Huracan STO, and at the event, Lamborghini's Asia Pacific Region Director Francesco Scardaoni made some comments that sound very promising.

"We're [...] keeping the door open for internal combustion engines with synthetic fuel," said Scardaoni. "So the ideal scenario will be to have the pure electric cars - like the fourth model we will introduce in 2028 - and the super sports cars, possibly with internal combustion engines running with synthetic fuel. That would be the ideal scenario. So that we still have the pure DNA of super sports cars for Lamborghini, the drivability of an internal combustion engine, the emotion in a super sports car."

At this point in time, we're still far away from understanding what can be the fuel and how it can be useful in engines. So that's the reason why it's important to have our own project in development of synthetic fuel.

If that sounds like a weak commitment, fear not: "We just set this project, so we budgeted some money for that, and we will start operating with an oil company to start the development of this project."

As we mentioned earlier, sister brand Porsche is already at work, but Lamborghini wants to do its own research. "We're running on [a] parallel path right now," continues Scardaoni. "We are investing [in] our own synthetic fuel channel, and Porsche is doing [this] as well [...] We wanted to have our own way to design and develop this potential way to keep our engines alive."

The man goes on to explain that Lamborghini is forging its own path so that it can fully understand the technology and how it could be applied to its own engines. Hopefully, the Lamborghini Aventador successor's shift to a hybrid powertrain will allow the automaker to masterfully develop electrification systems too, but the priority is to keep engines alive, and synthetic fuel could help achieve that. Fingers crossed.