Page 72 - Jan2023

Mo t o r s po r t
News f r o m
Her e a n d
Porsche Covers the Bases with Innovative Synthetic Fuel that can be used in
a c r o s s t h e
Internal Combustion Engines
Po n d
Bold Product ion and Innovat ion Project in Chile Not Only Pays Off
in December It Put a New Green E- Fuel in t he Tank of a Gasoline
Engine Powered Car.

While Porsche was one of the first automobile consider how to restrict the use of older cars on World Champion racer Sebastian Vettel,
manufacturers to go all in on the Electric the roadways, Porsche, unlike Aston Martin, a recently retired from Aston Martin's
performance vehicle of the future with its well-capitalized company, quietly decided in Cognizant racing team, was behind the
introduction of the Taycan, the engineers in 2020 to look at another option, a third way to wheel and filled with enthusiasm for his
Stuttgart, who have held with religious devotion to meet the needs of both motorists and the demonstration drive using sustainable fuel.
the idea of a rear engined 911 despite the many environment. He also took the occasion to criticize
nay sayers who opined that a rear engine car Formula 1 racing for being slow to adopt
With very little fanfare Porsche announced two
made no sense in a performance vehicle, put the new technology.
years ago that it had helped to fund a pilot plant
down their slide rules and gave some serious
in Chile that would produce a synthetic fuel that According to the Aston Martin Media center
consideration to other options than strictly all
would be almost completely climate neutral. The Green Pea ran on fuel developed by
electric vehicles.
Porsche first announced that its ambition was to Aramco and P1.
In this they joined , at least in thinking, an unusual produce a synthetic fuel that could be used in its
The synthetic fuel pumped into the 911
fellow traveler, Aston Martin. Aston Martin has race cars but the larger focus was always to
comes from the pilot plant in Punta Arenas,
been very vocal about its concerns about going all produce a fuel that could be used in gasoline
Chile, is operated by HIF Global in which
electric, citing environmental concerns with powered engines.
Porsche is a major investor. Plant officials
mining for rare earth minerals needed for lithium
In late December, the company's head of say they intend to produce around 34,000
batteries, problems with disposing of the
Research and Development Michael Steiner gallons of the fuel initially and will raise
batteries in an environmentally conscious way
pumped the first gallons of the new fuel into a that amount to about 145 million gallons a
when they reach the end of their productive life,
waiting gas powered Porsche 911 and drove year by 2025.
and the reality of what was going to happen to
away to applause.
the millions of gasoline powered cars owned by Porsche adds that it is considering
people who lack the resources to go all electric. Aston Martin, too, had demonstrated in July of developing similar plants in Australia and
2022 at the French Grand Prix, marking the the US. While the company expects initally
Even with sufficient resources to purchase an
100th anniversary of Aston Martin's start at the to use the fuels in its race cars and also at
electric car, insufficient charging facilities make
French Grand Prix, that the famous Aston Porsche Experience Centers, the long term
long range travel in the current crop of vehicles
Martin TT1 (known as the Green Pea, because of goal is for the fuel to be sold to oil
less than desireable. While the promise of no
its color) a gasoline powered vehicle of the companies for distribution to customers.
pollution vehicles (except for the rare earth mining
1920s vintage would run first on a tank of
pollution problems that no one seems to talk E-fuels are produced by a complex process
regular gasoline and then, when in the pits be
about ) is driving governments to get aggressive using water, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide.
refilled with a tank of synthetic fuel, then run
with plans to do away with all newly Oil is still necessary to lubricate the engine
with no loss of performance and no
manufactured internal combustion engines and to itself. The fuels can be distributed through
adjustments needed to the engine to make the
the existing service station system.
72 switch.