Bentley does not close its doors to the idea of using synthetic fuels in the future, in order to keep internal combustion engines alive, in the footsteps of Porsche. It is preparing to produce, in conjunction with Siemens Energy, synthetic fuels in Chile as of next year.
This is said by Matthias Rabe, head of engineering at the manufacturer based in Crewe, UK, speaking to Autocar: “We are looking more towards sustainable fuels, be they synthetic or biogenic. We think the internal combustion engine will be around for quite some time, and if that is the case, we think there could be a significant environmental advantage to synthetic fuels.”
“We strongly believe in e-fuels as another step beyond electromobility. We will probably give more details about this in the future. The costs are now still high and we have to promote some processes, but in the long term, why not?”, stressed Rabe.
The comments by the head of engineering at Bentley come just days after Michael Steiner, responsible for research and development at Porsche, said - quoted by the British publication - that the use of synthetic fuels could allow the Stuttgart brand to continue to sell cars with internal combustion engine for many years.
Will Bentley join Porsche?
Remember that as mentioned above, Porsche joined the technology giant Siemens to open a factory in Chile to produce synthetic fuels as early as 2022.
In the pilot phase of the “Haru Oni”, as the project is known, 130 thousand liters of climate-neutral synthetic fuels will be produced, but these values will rise substantially in the next two phases. Thus, in 2024, the production capacity will be 55 million liters of e-fuels, and in 2026, it will be 10 times higher, that is, 550 million liters.
There is, however, no indication that Bentley can join this project, because since the 1st of March of this year, Audi started to “trustee” the British brand, instead of Porsche as it has been until now.
Synthetic fuels were a possibility before
This is not the first time that Bentley has shown an interest in synthetic fuels. As early as 2019, Werner Tietz, Matthias Rabe's predecessor, had told Autocar: “We are looking at several different concepts, but we are not sure that the electric battery is the way forward”.
But for now, only one thing is certain: all British brand models will be 100% electric in 2030 and in 2026, Bentley's first all-electric car will be unveiled, based on the Artemis platform, which is being developed by Audi.