Bentley keeps the door open to synthetic fuels, following Porsche

Bentley has not ruled out the option of using synthetic fuels in the future as a way of keeping internal combustion engines alive, taking its lead from Porsche. The German brand is preparing to begin producing synthetic fuels in Chile from next year, in a project run together with Siemens Energy.

Matthias Rabe on sustainable fuels and internal combustion

Matthias Rabe, Bentley’s head of engineering at the Crewe-based manufacturer, told Autocar: “We’re looking more at sustainable fuels, whether synthetic or biogenic. We think the internal combustion engine will still exist for quite a long time, and if that’s the case, we think there could be a significant environmental benefit from synthetic fuels”.

Rabe also stressed: “We strongly believe in e-fuels as a further step beyond electromobility. We’ll probably share more details on this in the future. Costs are still high right now and we have to drive some processes forward, but in the long run, why not?”.

His remarks came just a few days after Michael Steiner, Porsche’s head of research and development, said-quoted by the same UK publication-that synthetic fuels could allow the Stuttgart brand to keep selling internal combustion cars for many years.

Will Bentley join Porsche?

As mentioned above, Porsche has teamed up with technology giant Siemens to open a factory in Chile that will produce synthetic fuels from 2022.

In the pilot phase of “Haru Oni”, as the project is known, 130,000 litres of climate-neutral synthetic fuels will be produced. Those volumes are set to rise sharply in the following two phases: by 2024, production capacity will be 55 million litres of e-fuels, and by 2026 it will be 10 times higher-550 million litres.

There is, however, no indication that Bentley will join this project, not least because since 1 March this year Audi has taken over oversight of the British marque, instead of Porsche as was previously the case.

Synthetic fuels were already an option before

This is not the first time Bentley has shown an interest in synthetic fuels. Back in 2019, Werner Tietz-Matthias Rabe’s predecessor-told Autocar: “We’re looking at several different concepts, but we’re not sure the battery-electric route is the way forward”.

Bentley’s roadmap: Artemis platform and the 2030 target

For now, only one thing is certain: every model in the British brand’s range will be 100% electric by 2030. In 2026, Bentley will unveil its first fully electric car, based on the Artemis platform, which is being developed by Audi.

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