Porsche’s Innovative Use of Carbon-Neutral E-Fuels in Race Cars

Porsche is making waves in the racing world by introducing a new fuel for its cars in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup series. The fuel, known as e-fuel, is produced at the Haru Oni plant in Chile and is created using renewable hydrogen made from electrolysis with wind-generated electricity. This process results in a fuel that is nearly carbon-neutral, with the CO2 used in production coming from bio sources and eventually direct air capture.

The race cars in the Supercup series will be running on this e-fuel without any mechanical modifications. Unlike production Porsches, the race cars have manually mapped ECUs that have been specifically programmed to work with the renewable fuel. This trial marks the first time fully synthetic renewable fuel will be used in its pure form in the series.

The production process of e-fuels involves electrolyzing water to create renewable hydrogen, which is then combined with CO2 under high pressure to produce methanol. This raw methanol is further processed to create synthetic petrol with an octane rating of at least 98. The DAC project, a collaboration with Volkswagen Group and other partners, aims to capture CO2 from the air to further reduce emissions.

The Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup series, which runs alongside Formula 1 races, is expected to consume 50,000 liters of e-fuel this season. In comparison, the Haru Oni plant has a maximum annual output of 130,000 liters. Porsche sees e-fuels as a complement to its electric car lineup, with a goal of achieving an 80% global production mix of pure-electric cars by 2030.

By utilizing innovative e-fuels in its race cars, Porsche is leading the way in sustainable racing technology and setting a new standard for environmentally friendly performance vehicles.