Synthetic fuel will probably be expensive at the pump

Synthetic fuels can enable a longer life for the fuel engine and may eventually become essential to keep classic cars running. However, the major problem with it at the moment is the limited production and therefore the high price. So far, they are produced in small pilot plants, including in Chile. The production under laboratory conditions results according to the German Autobild at a liter price of about €4.50 and that is obviously not competitive with fossil fuels.

Production must take place on a larger scale and then prices for e-fuels will logically fall. The European environmental organization Transport & Environment (T&E), which usually takes a rather critical position, predicts a price of €2.80 per liter for 2030. That is already closer, but would still be €210 per liter for an average driver. mean tank. Then the biggest downer is yet to come: that price excludes excise duties. In the Netherlands, from January 1, 2024, you will pay no less than 96 cents in excise duty per liter of unleaded gasoline. Add that to the €2.80 as predicted by T&E and then you are already talking about €3.76 per liter.

Not surprisingly, the eFuel Alliance, an interest group of car suppliers, the fuel industry and car clubs, is somewhat more optimistic. It believes that a liter price of €1.45 to €2.24 is possible in 2050. This European lobby association estimates that production costs will fall to between €0.70 and €1.33 per liter by 2050. As mentioned, these are the production costs; the final sales price depends on how taxes and additional costs develop. Moreover, 2050 is still very far away. Our German colleagues’ estimate is a lot more optimistic AutoBild. They state that the price per liter could ideally fall to €1.60 euros in 2026. In short, the estimates still vary somewhat, but most parties seem to agree that for the time being you should not expect synthetic fuels to have a comparable or even get a lower price than fossil fuels.