Stellantis has concluded that 24 engine families used in European vehicles sold since 2014, representing 28 million vehicles on the road, are ready to use drop-in e-fuel without any powertrain modification. This conclusion was reached after an extensive testing program at its technical centers across Europe using e-fuels provided by Aramco.
Ned Curic, Stellantis chief engineering and technology officer, said, “Our priority is providing zero-emission mobility for all with a focus on electrification, while our collaboration with Aramco is an important and complementary step in this journey for existing fleets on the road. We are exploring all solutions to reinforce our ambitious strategy of becoming a carbon net zero company by 2038. Drop-in e-fuels can have a massive and almost immediate impact on reducing the CO2 emissions of the existing vehicle fleet, offering our customers an easy and economically efficient option to reduce their carbon footprint – one as simple as choosing a different fuel pump at the station, with no additional modification to their vehicles.”
Amer Amer, Aramco transport chief technologist, added, “We are delighted to work with Stellantis, one of the world’s leading auto makers, to assess the performance of our fuel formulations that are designed to represent expected e-fuel characteristics in its existing vehicle engines. The results of the testing reinforce our view that synthetic fuel can be a drop-in solution in existing vehicles, and when produced via a low-carbon pathway it can play an important role in reducing carbon emissions in the transport sector and supporting an orderly energy transition.”
Stellantis estimates that the use of low-carbon e-fuels in up to 28 million of its European vehicles could cut 400 million tons of CO2 in Europe between 2025 and 2050. Testing of the surrogate e-fuels by Stellantis covered tailpipe emissions, startability, engine power, reliability endurance, oil dilution, fuel tank, fuel lines and filters, as well as fuel performance in extreme cold and hot temperatures.
For its part, Aramco is currently working on two demonstration plants to explore the production of low-carbon synthetic fuels.
For more on fuels and lubricants, please click here.