Porsche Begins Synthetic eFuel Production in Chile

Though electrification may seem to be the ideal path towards carbon neutrality, some carmakers reckon there are other ways to do so still. Besides hydrogen, synthetic fuels is one such alternative, perhaps prompting renowned German sportscar marque Porsche to give it a serious look.

This week, Porsche, along with several international partners, commemorated the opening of its synthetic ‘eFuel’ plant located in Punta Arenas, Chile. The event was graced by Chilean energy minister Diego Pardow, as well as Porsche Executive Board members Barbara Frenkel and Michael Steiner. They also performed a ceremonial fuelling of a Porsche 911 with the first batch of eFuel produced by the plant.

Porsche’s eFuel is made from water and carbon dioxide using wind energy, thus explaining why the facility is located in Punta Arenas. Part of Chile’s southern region, it’s an area where wind breezes blow around 270 days a year, thus allowing wind turbines to operate at full capacity. Said plant is  also located near the Strait of Magellan, which in turn makes it very convenient to ship the eFuel it produces worldwide.

“Porsche is committed to a double-e path: e-mobility and eFuels as a complementary technology,” said Frenkel, member of the Executive Board for Procurement at Porsche AG. “Using eFuels reduces CO2 emissions. Looking at the entire traffic sector, the industrial production of synthetic fuels should keep being pushed forward worldwide,” adds Frenkel further.

“There are currently more than 1.3 billion vehicles with combustion engines worldwide. Many of these will be on the roads for decades to come, and eFuels offer the owners of existing cars a nearly carbon-neutral alternative,” continued Frenkel’s colleague Steiner, member of the Executive Board for Development and Research at Porsche AG.

Part of its efforts to keep internal combustion engine (ICE) cars alive, over US$100 million has been invested so far into this tech by Porsche. This is significant considering both the success of its groundbreaking all-electric Taycan range and the reported plans to expand its EV line up with more models – i.e. electrified Panamera replacement and a new flagship EV SUV.

Nevertheless, through this plant, Porsche will initially run a pilot effort that will see the facility produce 130,000 litres of eFuel initially. This initial pilot output will be used to fuel key projects such as the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup championship, as well as projects run at Porsche Experience Centers.

Beyond this pilot effort, Porsche plans to expand eFuel production further by up to 55 million litres annually by mid-decade. As for this Chile-based site, it will ultimately be able to produce 550 million litres of eFuel per year.