Porsche, Exxon Developing E-Fuel

Porsche is working with Exxon to develop a more environmentally friendly synthetic fuel that would still give its racecars power but also be usable in regular vehicles with internal combustion engines, according to the Detroit News.

The fuel, if it can be successfully applied, would have none of the limiting complications of battery-powered engines, such as finite ranges between charges, high sticker prices, and battery materials currently concentrated in the Chinese market, the paper reported.

The fuel, which would emit “minimal” carbon dioxide, is being developed in Chile. Synthetics like it “recapture atmospheric car dioxide emissions during the production process,” balancing out emissions from operating vehicles that run on them, the paper reported.

Governments are pushing for electric-vehicle adoption and the abandonment of ICE vehicles, and automakers are responding by launching more and more EV models and planning to eliminate ICE models from their lineups by next decade. But EV adoption, while growing in the U.S., is advancing slower than had been anticipated due to the aforementioned obstacles.

Synthetic fuels such as the one being codeveloped by Porsche could present a simpler, less expensive and less intimidating transition, one industry watcher told the paper.

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