Synthetic fuels have become the weapon of the most exclusive manufacturers to not give up this technology, a loophole that the European Union has left open. Now, a German analysis has shown the effectiveness of e-fuels in regular production models.
The premium manufacturers in the market are being forced to change their strategy for launching new models. Everyone will face the next decade with technologies based on alternative energies, and not even the most exclusive ones like Ferrari are spared, which will have a moratorium and will delay their transformation just one year after the rest. For the vast majority, electric cars will be the norm in 2035 and for these in 2036.
Therefore, the most exclusive also work on synthetic fuels. Porsche, Mercedes -and the sports subsidiary AMG-, Volkswagen, Audi or McLaren are some of the brands that are working in this field, especially when the European Union has left a door open for climate-neutral synthetic fuelsso that the proportion of renewable fuels of non-biological origin must be at least 5.7 percent by 2030. In addition, recent studies suggest that the price per liter of synthetic fuel can reach between 1.20 and 1.70 euros.
The efficiency of synthetic fuels, put to the test
Although there are thousands of studies on synthetic fuels, the Germans from ADAC have carried out an in-depth analysis demonstrating its effectiveness in regular production models. A test that has been carried out with a volkswagen golf conventional, without technical modifications and its series engine accumulating several thousand kilometers. The result obtained concludes that the consumption values of e-fuels are at a level comparable to those of conventional fuelsbut well below exhaust emission limits that Europe limits.
Analysts have also not seen any notable differences in technical properties, performance and handling. Werner Steber, General Manager of the Technology Department of the Central Association of the German Automobile Trade, one of the participants in the study, explained that “the use of synthetic fuels in production vehicles is possible without any problem and that there are no negative effects in driving or engine performance.
The study also points out that the combined use of traditional and synthetic fuels, with barely five percent of the latter, also shows a high effectiveness and efficiency, helping to reduce emissions contaminants. A serious alternative that brands are obliged to consider and also the European Union, as there are a series of clear questions: the price of new cars scale incessantly, that of the electric ones as well and not all owners will be able to afford one equivalent to the current one in the future, in addition to the fact that they will not have their own recharging point either.