911 Carrera

Make
Porsche
Segment
Coupe

With new combustion car sales being banned within the next decade to lower global emissions, many automakers are switching to EVs. Porsche has already started embracing electrification with the Taycan and will launch an electric version of the Macan next year. At the same time, the German automaker is also fighting to save the combustion engine.

Last year, Porsche announced a partnership with Siemens Energy to develop a new, almost carbon-neutral synthetic fuel that will extend the life of the combustion engine. After all, the bans will only apply to new combustion car sales, so millions of gas-powered cars will still be on the road polluting the environment. Now, Porsche is one step closer to producing synthetic fuel as construction of the Haru Oni manufacturing plant near Punta Arenas, Chile, where the synthetic fuel will be produced, has begun.

Porsche plans to start producing synthetic fuel at the plant next year. Initially, the plant will produce 34,000 gallons of synthetic fuel in 2022, before increasing to 14.5 million gallons by 2024 and 145 million gallons by 2026 at a cost of around $7.6 per gallon.

"Porsche was founded with pioneering spirit. That's what drives us, we thrive on innovation. We also see ourselves as pioneers when it comes to renewable fuels, and we want to drive development forward. This fits in with our clear overall sustainability strategy," said Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for Research and Development at Porsche. "It means that Porsche as a whole can be net CO2 neutral as early as 2030. Fuels produced with renewable energy can make a contribution to this."

Steiner adds that the Porsche 911 is "particularly suited to the use of eFuels," which will help keep classic Porsche cars on the road without requiring any mechanical modifications. You might not need to convert your classic Porsche 911 into an electric restomod just yet, then. However, the synthetic fuel will initially be used in Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race cars from 2022.

Producing synthetic fuel will be a complicated process. Using wind power, electrolysers split water into oxygen and hydrogen. CO2 is then filtered from the air and combined with the hydrogen to produce synthetic methanol, which is then is converted into eFuel. Porsche is confident the e-Fuel will reduce carbon emissions in combustion engines by up to 90 percent.