Porsche, owned by Volkswagen (OTCMKTS: VWAGY), announced its USD75 Million investment in eFuels on Wednesday, as it strives to electrify 80% of its model lineup by 2030. Climate-neutral “e-fuels” are designed to replace gasoline in traditional combustion engines. The company will be specifically investing in Chilean eFuel producer Highly Innovative Fuels (HIF).
Amid the investment, Porsche will receive a 12.5% stake in HIF. The automaker is working with both HIF and its partners, Siemens Energy and ExxonMobil to produce eFuels by this summer from both hydrogen and carbon dioxide using wind energy.
“Today is an important milestone in our commitment to e-fuels,” Barbara Frenkel, head of procurement for Porsche, said during a media roundtable from Chile. “We see our participation in HIF Global as a long-term investment and the use of e-fuels is, of course, of great interest to the automotive industry … it is also effective for aviation and shipping industries.”
Porsche is still majorly invested in expanding its electric vehicle production and is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on EV technology. Nevertheless, they remain aware that new EVs are not a benefit to current Porsche owners, which is why it has opted to also invest in e-Fuels as a gas alternative.
“Besides racing and the Porsche Experience Center, the iconic 911 is the main focus for our eFuel project,” Porsche executive board member Michael Steiner said.
“Whether we offer [our eFuel] everywhere in the world, I would say no,” he said. “But in terms of consumed fuel, it is our target to take care that all the fuel that is consumed by, for example, 911s will be provided as eFuel, but not at every location.”
Porsche expects to initially use the e-fuels from Chile in motorsports, and then potentially in new consumer vehicles.