Europe's No.1 EV group, Stellantis is latest to follow Toyota-style multi-pathway strategy to carbon neutrality - converting 2014 engines to burn synthetic fuel

• 28 million combustion engine Stellantis group vehicles still run on European roads today
• Instead of waiting for customers to sell their old cars for a new BEV, Stellantis wants to offer a low-cost, ‘drop-in’ to existing customers, for immediate transition to carbon neutrality
• Stellantis to offer multiple carbon neutral solutions for different groups of customers - BEVs, hydrogen fuel cells, and synthetic fuel engines

Stellantis, the holding company for Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen, Opel, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and Jeep has announced that it is testing 28 engine families made since 2014 (Euro 6 emissions era) to run on carbon neutral synthetic fuels.

The goal is to rollout a solution that has the potential to turn up to 28 million Stellantis vehicles on European roads today carbon neutral.

This comes after the European Union's announcement that it will be exempting synthetic fuels from its 2035 combustion engines ban.

Also read: EV-only future threatened as Germany makes U-turn on EU's 2035 combustion engines ban

Stellantis says the solution will be part of the company’s ‘toolbox’ to reduce carbon emissions. The company however, stressed that it remains committed to become a battery EV-only (BEV) company in Europe by 2030.

“eFuel is a drop-in replacement synthetic fuel made from captured atmospheric CO2 and renewable energy.

“The broad adoption of eFuels would offer customers with existing ICE vehicles an easy and affordable option to decarbonize their vehicles without needing to replace their vehicle, upgrade the engine fuel system or await a new infrastructure network.”

Carbon neutral synthetic fuels are produced by combining CO2 captured from industrial processes / emissions from fossil fuel-based power generation, with hydrogen extracted from bio-waste or water, producing the liquid fuel using renewable energy.

Different manufacturers call it by different names – CN fuel (Toyota), e-fuel (Porsche), eFuel (Stellantis).

On the company’s diversion from its previously battery EV-only strategy for passenger cars in Europe, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said, “We are doubling down on our fight against global warming by testing carbon-neutral fuel as a complementary solution to our holistic decarbonization approach. While we remain steadfast in executing our aggressive electrification strategy, we must also find smart alternatives to address the CO2 emissions for the 1.3 billion existing ICE cars.”

“By working to make sure our Stellantis engines are eFuels friendly, we are aiming at giving our customers another tool in the fight against global warming and one that can have an almost immediate impact. It is also another action we are taking that is well aligned with our commitment to be carbon neutral by 2038,” he added.

Stellantis engineers are finalizing the testing, covering both petrol and diesel engines. Testing include tailpipe emissions, startability, engine power, reliability endurance, oil dilution, fuel tank, fuel lines and filters, to name a few.

The Stellantis group is currently Europe’s largest manufacturer of battery EVs. Although Tesla is in the limelight more often, Stellantis’ range of budget BEVs are the ones that are delivering higher numbers, mainly because the group sells BEVs not just to private car buyers, but also commercial van fleet customers.

The group sold 288,000 BEVs in 2022, led by the Fiat 500e and Peugeot e-208, while the Peugeot e-Expert / Opel Vivaro-e twins led Europe’s electric van market.

Stellantis has 5 confirmed locations for battery-manufacturing gigafactories (three in Europe and two in North America), partnering with Automotive Cells Company, Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solution.

To secure vital minerals required for battery manufacturing, separate agreements have ben signed with Vulcan Energy, Controlled Thermal Resources, Alliance Nickel Limited (formerly GME Resources Limited), Element 25 and Terrafame.

Beyond BEVs and specific to commercial vehicles, Stellantis is also in competition with Toyota to introduce hydrogen fuel-cell electric commercial vans.

In December 2022, Stellantis announced that it is in negotiations to purchase a substantial stake in Symbio, a Faurecia-Michelin joint-venture company specializing in fuel cells.

Stellantis’ commercial van plant in Hordain, France is the first in the world to be future-proofed to produce commercial vehicles in 3 powertrain types – internal combustion engine, battery electric, hydrogen fuel cells.

Former Toyota President and current Chairman Akio Toyoda has for years, prodded the industry to look beyond just batteries, reasoning that the world is very diverse and the needs of customers vary greatly from one country to another, as well as between segments.

He also called out the flawed justification that to cut emissions, customers must dump their old cars and buy new EVs, which emit far more CO2 in its manufacturing process and thus need to travel a longer zero emission distance to offset the additional emissions, when there are untapped solutions that can get us to carbon neutrality faster.

His efforts however, earned him the reputation of someone who is anti-EV.

Last year at a 25-hour endurance race event in Thailand, he told the Wall Street Journal that the silent majority of automotive industry executives question if a BEV-only future is sustainable, but because of peer pressure, many are afraid to speak out.

At that Idemitsu Super 1500 25-hour endurance race in Buriram circuit last year, Toyota showcased its multi-pathway strategy to achieve carbon neutrality. The electric Toyota bZ4X served as a safety car, Akio Toyoda raced a GR Corolla with hydrogen combustion engine (HyCEV), his son Daisuke raced a GR86 burning carbon-neutral fuel (CN fuel).

Also read: To continue his teacher's dream, Akio Toyoda is racing in Thailand to show 5 solutions are better than 1