Porsche: “Synthetic fuels should be subsidized by the state”

Many manufacturers rely on the electricity of the future. Although Porsche also markets a number of electric vehicles, it also relies on synthetic fuels. And they deserve support from the state, according to the Stuttgart manufacturer.

Last December showed that Porsche is serious about e-fuel. The company opened the first factory for the fuel. The factory is located in Chile and will have to produce around 130,000 liters of fuel in the pilot phase. After the test phase, around 2025, the factory will run a constant production of 55 million liters per year.

Synthetic fuels have one major disadvantage

Although synthetic fuels can be very good news for car enthusiasts and the environment, e-fuels also come with a major downside. The production of the environmentally friendly fuel is very expensive.

Barbara Frenkel, a board member at Porsche, tells Deutsche Automobilwoche that they can never compete with petrol or diesel. “The fuel that we produce is far too expensive for us.” Frenkel therefore also advocates state subsidies and a bonus for avoiding CO2 emissions from synthetic fuels or an emissions tax. Without government support, it’s just too expensive for the consumer.

If it turns out that synthetic fuels are actually much more environmentally friendly than petrol and diesel, then government help seems a logical step. After all, electric cars are – currently – exempt from vehicle tax and BPM.

Still many electric cars from Porsche

It remains to be seen whether that will happen. First of all, many tests have to be carried out with synthetic fuels and it has to be shown whether the project is scalable. Despite the development, Porsche intends to offer 80 percent of its cars purely electrically by 2030. Even after 2035, many cars will still have to be refueled, emphasizes Frenkel.