Will We Ever Get Porsche’s eFuel

If you’re like me, you’ve probably had enough of all your favorite cars being killed off to make way for ghastly EV SUVs. You look outside, and everything is ‘E’ something or an ‘i’ something else. You might remember Formula 1 and Porsche promising that development was underway for a new type of fuel that would allow cars that make noise to return, so we could forget about this dystopian nightmare that is a sea of dull EVs that make dull humming sounds taking over every city.

Wait what is this Porsche eFuel stuff?

So the plan from Porsche was (and I assume still is) to produce 130,000 gallons of E-Fuel at first, which, according to AutoGuide is :

"A  derivative from hydrogen. The process begins with electrolysis, which splits water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. From there, Porsche and Siemens use captured carbon dioxide from the air, in combination with the hydrogen, to form synthesized methanol."

But what’s so good about eFuel?

Well, not to be dramatic, but Porsche’s eFuel could literally save cars for starters. Secondly, given the relatively small amount of readily available infrastructure surrounding electric cars, eFuel could use the millions of petrol (gas if you’re of the American persuasion) stations around the world as it can be pumped into your car and doesn’t take 45 minutes on a super lightening fast charge either so no waiting around, just a normal fill up.

Secondly, and yes, I’m biased, but no more whirring, electric cars. We can have cars that make noise back. The days of hybrid-supported inline 4s and plug-in hybrids can be over just as quickly as they started. We can have Lamborghini’s with V10s again, Mercedes can give us a C63 with a 6.2 liter V8 again, nature can heal. Heck, we might even get a V10 BMW M5 again, and you don’t know how much joy it will bring me to see all my favorite cars get interesting engines again. And to you, Porsche, we want a Boxter with a Boxer 6 again, no more crackly 4-cylinder that sounds like ‘Rice Krispies’ in a bowl of milk.

Thirdly, eFuels can power normal cars, so you don’t need a special car that can only run on this specific type of fuel (like a fussy eater). That brings a whole new lease of life to the classics market, too, as people are starting to retire their interesting old cars because of carbon emissions and ultra-low carbon emission zones and so on, ditching their classics for a ghastly EQE or something similar.

So when will Porsche give us our eFuel?

As mentioned earlier the plan has been to produce 130,000 gallons per year by 2022. It’s almost 2024 so what’s going on? Well according to Reuters, as of 2023 eFuel isn’t produced (at scale), but the plan is to eventually produce 550 million gallons per year. There’s also plans for a second plant to open in Norway in 2024, with their focus being on eFuel for aviation.

However, according to eFuel Alliance, production can start as soon as 2025, with plans to completely replace old-fashioned regular petrol and diesel in the next 25 years and I hope it does. For us as Petrol heads, this could be the greatest thing ever, we won’t be forced to become EV heads we can instead be ‘synthetic petrol heads’, which works for me.