911 Carrera

Make
Porsche
Segment
Coupe

HIF, the self-proclaimed global leader in fuels and Porsche's official synthetic fuel partner, has selected Texas as the location for its first industrial-scale facility in the USA, which will be operational by 2027. HIF will invest $6 billion to build a facility large enough to create 3,000 jobs during the construction phase and 125 operating jobs once it's finished. More importantly, once the facility is fully operational, HIF says it will produce around 200 million carbon-neutral gallons of substitute gas annually. That's enough to decarbonize 400,000 vehicles, which is half the number of EVs sold in the USA in 2022.

The ramifications for the USA will be massive, and HIF's investment is already being recognized. Industry Development Magazine gave HIF the coveted Community Investment Award for 2023. The award recognizes companies investing in communities and the economic developers responsible for securing the investment.

"We are very honored to receive this award and grateful to the citizens of Matagorda County for welcoming the first American eFuels facility. Once again, Texas has shown its leadership as the heart of America's energy sector, galvanizing new energy supplies for the United States and the world, said Renato Pereira, CEO of HIF USA. "We chose this site because of its unique combination of incentive support, available real estate, tax, and regulatory stability, and commitment to protecting the environment through responsible and sustainable economic development."

HIF USA will apply the lessons learned from its existing facility in Punta Arenas, Chile. The Chilean plant started producing carbon-neutral gasoline late last year. Earlier this year, Porsche's R&D boss proved the fuel works by drifting a Gentian Blue Porsche 911 using eFuel produced by the Punta Arenas plant.

While the outputs from the plant are nearly enough to fuel all of the vehicles in the USA (estimated to be 290 million), it's a big step toward making ICE cars as carbon-neutral as possible. As we've stated before, there's no such thing as a zero-emissions vehicle, but this is as close as it gets, especially if you buy a used car or keep the one you have.

HIF USA's big secret is that its facility will use only renewable energy sourced from the winds and electrolysis to produce green hydrogen. This hydrogen will be combined with CO2 to create eFuel. It's a complicated process, but worth reading about.

In short, if you already own a 1984 Porsche 911 with a straight pipe, you can absolutely hoon it through the local hippie hangout area parking lot, knowing that it's the most environmentally-friendly car there. There's no need to mine, build, transport, or plug anything into a plug powered by natural gas. This hypothetical 911 would be more environmentally friendly than any EV on sale today.

HIF is not stopping with the USA. HIF Chile is already operating, and HIF Asia Pacific and HIF EMEA (Europe) are coming. These are but the first few steps in producing a fuel that could replace gas as we know it. Existing gas station infrastructure and storage can be used, which gives it the upper hand over hydrogen. The main issue is getting production up to a scale large enough that it can be considered affordable.

In 2016, the American Chemical Society published a study putting the cost of a gallon at $3.80 to $9.20 per gallon. When we adjust for inflation, we're looking at between $4.80 to $11.62. The average national gas price at the time of writing was $3.405 per gallon.

HIF has yet to reveal its future business model, but it likely won't be a direct sales. Instead, it will be a third-party supplier to gas stations.

As cynical as some people like to be, synthetic fuel is the future. Even the notorious ICE-hating European Union recently made room in its draconian legislation for eFuel.