While many of Europe’s biggest car brands are racing to dump the faithful old combustion engine and push forward with an all-electric future, Mazda might just be bucking the trend and promising to keep the faith.

The Japanese car company have a vested interest in keeping the internal combustion alive as they have invested millions in developing a range of eFuels, which if successful, could provide an ultra-low emission alternative to the battery car.

Mazda are walking blindly away from electric vehicles, but acknowledge that more needs to be done to investigate ways and means for ICE vehicles to have a sustainable future.

Speaking to the PA News Agency this week, the company’s UK managing director, Jeremy Thomson said that the industry needs to be less blinkered towards an all-electric future.

“EVs are not the only solution,” said Thomson.

“We will not be 100 per cent EV as some manufacturers have said, we will have a range of different solutions that suit different applications. As has been the case with combustion engines for some time, there is the right sizing argument [buying the car that suits your needs] and the same is true of electrification. Electric cars are not the only solution.”

eFuels are being considered as a carbon neutral option for some manufacturers, with Porsche recently announcing that they would be producing their own synthetic fuels from 2022, but many remain sceptical that fuels can be completely carbon-neutral.

However Thomson is keen to see combustion engines given a longer lease of life before they end up on the scrap-heap.

He said: “When we talk about EVs, we’re thinking of future cars, and at some point those will replace all cars on the road. But with eFuels we’re talking about a solution that means we can continue using combustion engines, but not with fossil fuel, and not least because you can apply it to the 35 million combustion engines that exist on Britain’s roads today.

“I think it’s a fascinating idea. Let’s not demonise the combustion engine that seems trendy at the moment, what we should be doing is looking at the negative impact of carbon-based fuel.”

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