Synhelion fuels first car with solar gasoline

Zurich, July 3, 2025

Swiss cleantech company Synhelion has fueled a car with solar gasoline for the first time ever – a global first for road transportation. The 1985 Audi Sport quattro, part of the AMAG Classic car collection, became the first vehicle in history to run on solar gasoline produced at Synhelion’s industrial-scale plant DAWN in Jülich, Germany.

The car’s historic drive marks the debut of solar gasoline as a viable, drop-in fuel for existing internal combustion engines. No modifications were made to the Audi’s original 306 hp engine, demonstrating the compatibility of Synhelion’s renewable synthetic fuel with today’s vehicles and infrastructure.

Solar fuel produced at DAWN
The solar gasoline was produced at Synhelion’s first industrial plant, DAWN, which has been generating synthetic fuels on an industrial scale since 2024. Synhelion’s proprietary technology uses solar heat to drive a thermochemical process that converts a biogenic carbon source and water into synthetic drop-in fuels, namely sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), gasoline, and diesel. These fuels are nearly CO₂-neutral, emitting only as much CO₂ during use as was used in their production.

The Audi Sport quattro’s solar-powered journey took place during the Supercar Owners Circle Classic Andermatt event that included tours over the world-renowned Swiss mountain passes of Oberalp and Furka. The iconic Audi led the convoy as a powerful symbol of how technological innovation and automotive heritage can come together to accelerate progress toward net-zero mobility.

Milestone in Synhelion’s fuel deployment
This marks the first time solar gasoline has ever been produced and used to fuel a car. It is also the third instance of Synhelion’s fuels powering a vehicle, following a motorcycle ride with solar gasoline and the symbolic fueling of a steamboat with solar diesel earlier this year.

Philipp Furler, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Synhelion, emphasized the importance of the achievement: “This is a huge milestone. Not just for Synhelion, but for sustainable mobility as a whole. For the first time, we’ve shown that solar fuel can power a car in real-world conditions. It proves that our technology is ready for the road and that even iconic internal combustion engines can have a role in a green future.”

The Audi Sport quattro was driven by Helmut Ruhl, CEO of AMAG Group, who shared his first-hand impression: “It was a great feeling to drive with Synhelion’s solar gasoline in the tank. What struck me most was how normal it felt – no difference compared to fossil gasoline, except for the significantly lower carbon emissions. This really shows that renewable fuels represent an important complementary solution to the electrification of road transportation – in line with AMAG’s philosophy that change should be approached with a clear decarbonization strategy and technological openness.” AMAG Group, the biggest car company in Switzerland, is both an investor and a customer of Synhelion.

With industrial production now established at DAWN, Synhelion is expanding its efforts to demonstrate solar fuel across various transportation applications and scale production toward broader commercial use.

For the full English press release, see here.
For the full German press release, see here.

For images of the world’s first car ride powered by solar fuels, see below in the download section. Video snippets can be downloaded here:

Download video snippets

Further information as well as image and video material can be found in our press kit.

View press kit