E-fuels: Scepticism on Volkswagen's supervisory board

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At Volkswagen, almost everything has been put in the direction of battery-electric propulsion in recent years. Former boss Herbert Diess never left any doubt about this strategy, his successor Oliver Blume is considered a proponent of e-fuels. However, Volkswagen's supervisory board does not believe that these synthetic fuels can become an alternative for the masses in the foreseeable future.

Weil: "interesting, if affordable".

Among the sceptics is Lower Saxony's Minister President Stephan Weil, who also sits on Volkswagen's supervisory board in this position. He thinks e-fuels are interesting, but does not expect synthetic fuels to be used in cars in the near future. The so-called e-fuels would be interesting if you could use an engine with them at affordable prices in a CO₂-neutral way, the SPD politician told dpa.

Reasons for e-cars

However, e-fuels also have a decisive disadvantage: they are enormously energy-intensive. "We will need renewable energies in Germany for other purposes in the foreseeable future. For this reason, we will not see e-fuels in the passenger car sector any time soon," said Weil. "There is already a reason why almost the entire global passenger car industry has set out to organise battery-supported electric mobility." That is the technological state of the art now, he said. "But who knows how things will develop further."

E-fuels are synthetic fuels that can replace petrol and petroleum-based diesel in ordinary combustion engines. Proponents argue that with this fuel the stock can be decarbonised if the electricity needed for production comes from renewable sources. Critics complain that its energy efficiency is abysmal. E-fuels do not change the local air pollution.

(mfz)