Here's why Audi keeps on producing combustion engines running on vegetable oil

Is this really going to help the company achieve net climate neutrality by 2050?
Deniz Yildiran

As the world is getting closer to an energy crisis, many carmakers plan on phasing out gasoline cars and switching to EVs. However, Audi seems to be keeping internal combustion engines for now, and aims to end the production in 2033.

In addition to Audi's plan on achieving net climate neutrality by 2050 and manufacturing EVs, the company has also approved a new kind of fuel, called hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), to be put into use, which they believe will reduce co2 emissions by 70 to 95 percent, and be a sustainable form in the long run.

HVO comes with advantages as well as disadvantages. For example, diesel engines running on fuel rely on heat for combustion, so they have a low threshold for temperatures below zero, and it doesn't help with the combustion process well. However, HVO functions better in cold conditions. But how common is it? It's stated in the video that out of 92,000 gas stations in Europe, only 600 of them offer this particular fuel. Also, HVO is 10 to 15 more expensive than fossil fuels.