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Porsche, Ferrari stand between the EU and the goal of destroying internal combustion engines


Manufacturers of luxury sports cars are looking to remove synthetic electric fuel, or e-fuel, from the EU’s 2035 planned ban on new internal combustion engine vehicles. While they belong to a narrow segment of the automotive industry, porsche and Ferrari’s status as a national icon was enough to prompt their governments to challenge the EU’s plan last week just days before the scheduled vote.

The move has rocked Brussels and raised questions around supposed climate-neutral e-fuels that have proven too costly for large fleets of vehicles. But it also reveals deeper questions about the economic and social forces at play in Europe’s transition to green technology.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the sidelines of a German cabinet meeting on Sunday, where the issue of e-fuel is likely to be discussed.

Cars are at the core of Germany’s culture, the country remains the only European country without speed limits on popular highway sections – a perennial thorn in the side of environmentalists. And opposition to the proposed EU law illustrates the country’s reluctance to part ways with some of its elite icons, like Porsche’s roaring 911.

But efforts to slow down EU legislation at such a late stage have sparked criticism in the auto industry. With manufacturers pouring billions of dollars into bringing electric cars to market, many don’t want to be distracted from a potentially expensive alternative.

Thomas Ingenlath, chief CEO of luxury electric car maker Polestar, said in an interview. “The industry and politicians should ultimately give a very clear signal about the journey ahead.”

Electronic fuel technology

While most automakers are pouring tens of billions of dollars into the EV transition, Porsche has also invested in an e-fuel plant in Chile, in part because the manufacturer has no plans to produce more fuel. export 911 sports car with a plug. Operating vehicles with internal combustion engines in a climate-neutral manner can also help accelerate decarbonisation in the transportation sector, according to a Porsche spokesman. He added that existing vehicles should be included in an effort to reduce CO2 emissions more quickly. Ferrari says it is pursuing alternative fuels to continue producing cars with internal combustion engines in order to preserve its heritage.

Proponents of e-fuels say they are essentially renewable electricity converted into a flammable, liquid fuel. To create it, the scientists combined the resulting carbon dioxide with hydrogen separated from the water in a process powered by renewable energy, creating a synthetic hydrocarbon fuel. When burned in an internal combustion engine, e-fuel produces carbon dioxide. But because it was made from previously captured CO2, they assumed it was climate-neutral.

The technology is attracting particular interest in Germany, where the Fischer-Tropsch process remains the basis of e-fuel invented in 1925. The method allowed Germany’s oil-starved army to generate alternative liquid fuel from coal during World War II.

For future German and Italian sports cars, the superior energy density of such fuels, compared with lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles, means that automakers can continues to produce lightweight sports cars that maneuver through corners with roaring engines and crackling exhaust pipes.

Formula 1, the world’s leading motorsport competition, will switch to synthetic fuels for the 2026 season. Although the move will not reduce the sport’s overall emissions – 99% some of that comes from non-racing automotive sources like air travel to races around the world – but they will help demonstrate that synthetic fuels can power high-performance cars engine.

‘Runaway train’

Unless they are economized with e-fuel, the bell will ring for the internal combustion engine. While those who like Mercedes-Benz AG and BMW car AG has teams working on a new generation of internal combustion engines to comply with Euro-7 emissions regulations that will come into effect in 2025, with no plans or funding for the next generation.

Roberto Vavassori, chief executive officer of Italian brake manufacturer Brembo SpA, said in an interview: “The electrification trend of the auto industry at the moment is like a kind of fast train. Stopping or delaying is even worse. investment by automakers.”

However, Vavassori added that “the key question is how and where are we going to find all the clean energy that the electric transition needs as we may realize that Europe will not be ready for it.” that, in terms of infrastructure, by 2035.”

Some in the industry are concerned that an e-fuel exception – even if limited to a few sports cars – could blunt the impact on the auto industry from an apparent ban in 2016. 2035 for internal combustion engines. In the energy sector, the tough deadline for exiting fossil fuels like coal caused even faster shutdowns as companies cut back on investments in the dying sector and workers move to industries with better future prospects.

There are some exceptions to the new EU rules, but member states and parliament have previously agreed that appropriate manufacturers – including Automobili lamborghini SpA – production of a small number of vehicles will receive a 1-year lag on emissions targets.

pilot projects

In Germany, e-fuel is part of a larger effort to develop liquid and solid fuels that store renewable energy but not static batteries. Power-to-X projects include a pilot project at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and a planned Dow Chemicals project at Stade.

porsche and Ferrari are following.

Porsche holds a 12.5% ​​stake in HIF Global LLC, an e-fuel maker that operates a global pilot plant in Haru Oni, Chile.

Ferrari says its innovation program will focus not only on electric transitions, but also on e-fuels, lubricants and coolants, “which will allow us to reduce emissions while continuing to use the internal combustion engine to preserve our heritage.”

Ferrari sentiment is echoing throughout German politics, where leaders of the pro-business party FDP were once the driving force behind opposition to the internal combustion engine ban. Its leader, Christian Lindner, is a Porsche 911 fan who has been fired for frequently texting the Porsche AG Director Operating Officer Oliver Blume in the union negotiations.

The FDP, the grassroots partner in Scholz’s three-party coalition, has been trying to bolster its position in government in recent months after a series of poor performances in regional elections and amid a growing political crisis. Support is declining in the polls.

Transport Minister Lindner and FDP Volker Wissing – who issued Germany’s threat this week to block EU legislation – are exploiting strong opinions in the country. About three-quarters of Germans want their next car to have an internal combustion engine, according to a November 2022 survey by Nordlight Research.

Wissing, speaking on Friday, has placed responsibility on the EU for finding an e-fuel.

“It is contradictory that the EU Commission on the one hand calls for high climate protection targets, but on the other hand makes it more difficult to achieve them through overly ambitious regulations,” he said.

First published date: March 6, 2023, 09:03 AM IST

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