Porsche, Ferrari E-Fuel Push at Heart of EU Engine Debate

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Two of Europe's most venerable names in the car industry, Porsche and Ferrari, are surfacing in an EU debate about a plan to kill the combustion engine — and they're changing the conversation.

The luxury sports-car makers are seeking a carveout for synthetic electrofuels, or e-fuels, from the EU's planned 2035 ban on new internal combustion engine vehicles. While they belong to a narrow segment of the auto industry, Porsche and Ferrari's status as national icons was enough to move their governments to challenge the EU plan last week just days before a scheduled vote.

The move shook Brussels, and reopened questions around supposedly climate-neutral e-fuels that have proven too costly for large fleets of vehicles. But it also revealed deeper questions about the economic and social forces at play in Europe's transition to green tech.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is set to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the sidelines of a German cabinet meeting on Sunday, where the e-fuel issue will likely be discussed.

Cars are at the cultural core of Germany, which remains the only European nation with no speed limits on stretches of its famed autobahn — a perennial thorn for environmentalists. And opposition to the proposed EU law illustrates the nation's reluctance to bid farewell to some of its quintessential symbols, like Porsche's roaring 911.

But the efforts to slow the EU law at such a late stage has stoked criticism within the auto industry. With manufacturers pouring billions into bringing electric cars to market, many don't want distractions from an expensive potential alternative.

“I would call it now almost pathetic,” Thomas Ingenlath, chief executive officer of luxury electric-car maker Polestar, said in an