In a world striving to achieve carbon neutrality amid climate concerns, a variety of alternative engine solutions have emerged out of the transportation sector, and Ferrari is doing its best to join the transformation. The slow takeover of alternative engine solutions has been called for by climate activists in order to no longer rely on the internal combustion engine, which utilizes fossil fuels to operate, which, in turn, produce harmful emissions. The luxury vehicle world has also turned to these engines, particularly favoring electrical solutions over others like hydrogen.
Why hydrogen vehicles struggle to take off
Despite investment from innovators and automobile companies such as Toyota and Hyundai, the hydrogen vehicles have struggled to gain popularity the way the electric engine has in the passenger vehicle space. The adoption of the engines, while holding potential for the aviation and the long-haul trucking industry, has remained limited to niche industrial applications.
The cost to produce infrastructure to support hydrogen vehicles is a severe limitation to their adoption, becoming more widespread. To ensure that the fuel remains clean, green hydrogen must be used in the vehicles. This green hydrogen is very costly to produce, hence why hydrogen produced from fossil fuels is still used in current hydrogen vehicle engines.
Ferrari and hydrogen engines: A possibility?
Ferrari is one of the most iconic sports car brands on the road. The brand has also continued to adapt to the changing times, along with other automobile developers, by producing hybrid electric vehicles. The Ferrari F80 is their most powerful vehicle currently, with a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 engine with three electric motors, including a front axle motor and two rear motors to produce a horsepower of 1184.
While Ferrari is currently gearing up to unveil their first fully electric vehicle, the Elettrica, later this year, the brand has not necessarily written off hydrogen vehicles despite their struggle to be adopted into the passenger vehicle world. In April of last year, Ferrari filed a patent for an internal combustion hydrogen engine design. The design would utilize an internal combustion engine; however, according to the patent, it would be designed to run on hydrogen.
Hydrogen combustion engines offer a significant advantage to fuel-cell technology as they rely on current existing internal combustion engine technology to burn hydrogen rather than fossil fuels without producing carbon dioxide, in contrast to hydrogen fuel cells, which produce electricity that powers motors. Although the concept is not new, BMW produced a 7-Series driven by hydrogen in the early 2000s, this is the first time Ferrari has openly shown interest in it.
New announcement could put hydrogen engine on hold
While Ferrari has expressed interest in hydrogen engines, the hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine project could be put on hold due to Ferrari’s latest announcement detailing efforts to produce carbon-neutral fuels and keep up with the renewable fuel revolution. By 2025, the European Union is set to ban the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles. As a solution to this, the brand is looking at developing carbon-neutral synthetic fuel that current internal combustion engines could still run on.
“We believe there is still a valid way forward for [internal combustion engine] cars and this is going to be supported by the development of carbon-neutral fuel,” said Ferrari CEO, Benedetto Vigna to Autocar in an interview in 2024.
This synthetic fuel would be developed by Ferrari in collaboration with other partners, with the hopes of potentially trialing it in the 2026 Formula One season. Formula One has announced that it will implement 100% sustainable fuel in its racing by the start of the 2026 season, and Ferrari appears to be playing a pivotal role in making this happen. Much to fans of Ferrari’s delight, if the fuel is a success, it means that we may not have to say goodbye to their iconic internal combustion engines.
