At the Super Taikyu Fuji 24 Hours, an all-Japan force of fuel and car manufacturers announced the development of a low-carbon gasoline. During the press conference, the companies emphasized the importance of a multi-pathway approach that includes liquid fuels.
Delivering a variety of vehicle options
Subaru’s CTO, Tetsuo Fujinuki, described this carbon-neutral fuel as essential in continuing to serve the needs of diverse customers.
藤貫CTO(SUBARU)
As I have said on many occasions, automobiles are a fascinating product.
Each company produces lots of cars. Essentially, if they become commodities, I think
For this reason, we need to harness our diversity while addressing environmental challenges, such as reducing exhaust emissions and achieving carbon neutrality. As one of the means of accomplishing this, I think carbon-neutral fuels are extremely important.
From an engineer’s perspective, whereas previously we explored how to use the available fuels, now we are part of fuel development. We are very excited.
Another key aspect is having many companies work together. Of course, we regularly exchange information, but until now car development was kept under wraps within each company.
In contrast, we are thrilled to be working with a fuel manufacturer like ENEOS and other car companies that are eager to build the future together.
If this approach turns into an advantage for Japan, ultimately, we will be able to offer customers a wider variety of vehicles. We are taking part because we are committed to creating such a world.
His comments were followed up by Mazda CTO Ryuichi Umeshita.
CTO Umeshita (Mazda)
To echo what Mr. Fujinuki has said, I think it’s truly wonderful that rivals can join forces in this way to tackle the same challenge, and work toward the same vision.
Mazda has long endorsed the multi-pathway approach and carbon neutrality.
And since Super Taikyu has provided us with a concrete platform to experiment, we want to share knowledge with our co-challengers and learn from each other, as we work hard to gradually open the door to the future.
I should mention that at Mazda, we will be using this fuel for our #12 car, the Roadster.
As a 24-hour event, today’s race will no doubt be very tough. Yet at the same time, we also see it as an invaluable opportunity to experiment.
I hope that everyone viewing the race will enjoy the race itself, watching our companies compete. At the same time, I also hope you are excited to see how this 24-hour experiment for the future turns out.
Having opted out of using the new low-carbon gasoline for this race, Nissan Motorsports & Customizing (NISMO) Senior Vice President Shinichi Kiga vowed to do so in the future.
Senior Vice President Kiga (NISMO)
In the ST-Q category, we are developing a car known as the Z NISMO GT4.
While various circumstances have prevented us from using the fuel for this race, I would like to take this opportunity to pledge that we will definitely use the low-carbon gasoline provided by ENEOS in competition.
Our Z NISMO GT4 is being designed, developed, and manufactured by Nissan Motorsports & Customizing and Nissan, making it the sole Japanese-built car in the GT4 category.
The engine in this powertrain is made at Nissan’s Iwaki Plant in Fukushima.
Through these races, we hope to meticulously examine how Japanese engines perform with the low-carbon gasoline produced locally by ENEOS.
We believe this will provide data that we can feed back into our mass-produced models.