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If they're successful with this fast, it will likely stop the advance of electric cars. If the average Joe could basically stick to their current life style but

• _ph_ 6y ago
  The problem is, that synthetic fuels used in a combustion engine mean like a factor of 10 of electricity used for the same distance driven compared to an electric car. This has a cost and an environment impact, especially if the electricity could be used somewhere else with higher efficiency, like heating homes. It also wouldn't change a bit about the car exhaust problems. Also, we are approaching quickly the point where electric cars are cheaper to manufacture than combustion engine cars.
• elihu 6y ago
  Well, maybe. If electric cars are just better cars, then I think they'll prevail anyways. (For now, gas cars are generally lighter and have better range, whereas electric cars are cheaper to operate and need less maintenance.) A big open question on these synthetic fuels is whether it can be done in a way that's price competitive with fossil fuels. It makes sense for a company like Porche to explore this first, since the average Porche customer probably isn't particularly concerned about the cost of fuel. That said, if this works out and if Liquid piston's inside-out rotary engine[1] works out, it could make the decade or so interesting times for combustion-engine cars. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25450477 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25450477