The EU has left a back door open for the use of e-fuels in combustion engines after 2035. Outside of the zero-emissions standard for passenger cars, these synthetic fuels are said to have another field of application. This is exactly where they belong: in applications where the electric motor does not seem suitable today, namely in heavy goods and air traffic. There, the energy density of fuels is still superior to that of batteries. E-fuels could really help the climate there.
For passenger cars, on the other hand, the electric drive is the method of choice. Not for ideological reasons, as some like to suggest, but for physical ones. Because e-fuels are produced with electricity from CO2 and hydrogen – complicated and very energy-intensive. The green electricity for this must first be obtained from wind and sun. Then it would be better to drive an electric motor with it.
The fact that today there is still a call for openness to technology in car drives is mainly due to generations of engineers who have put their heart and soul into optimizing the internal combustion engine. And with the fact that the manufacturers still make good money with it. But now it’s time to switch to electric cars.
