Toyota & BMW join forces to keep ICE alive; pilot tests with Repsol and Bosch to test 100% renewable RON 95 petrol on current engines and infrastructure

Toyota and BMW have begun a six-month pilot project in Spain to test 100% renewable gasoline in everyday driving, marking one of the clearest industry efforts yet to study low-carbon liquid fuels as a practical emissions-cutting tool.

The programme brings together Toyota, BMW, Spanish energy company Repsol and Bosch, with the partners aiming to collect real-world data on how renewable gasoline performs in normal road use.

The test matters because it is not focused on a new powertrain or a dedicated prototype. Instead, it uses vehicles already on the road and a fuel that is chemically compatible with conventional internal combustion engines.

Repsol’s fuel for the trial is Nexa 95, a 100 percent renewable gasoline made from Renewable Energy Directive-compliant feedstocks. Repsol says the fuel can reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared with regular petrol.

Unlike many alternative-fuel strategies that require new vehicles or major infrastructure changes, renewable gasoline can be used in standard petrol cars and dispensed through existing filling stations. That makes it attractive for a faster rollout if the emissions and supply-chain case proves strong enough.

The fuel is already sold publicly in Spain, which the source describes as the only market where everyday drivers can currently buy this type of renewable gasoline.

For the pilot, a total of 20 Toyota and BMW vehicles will be used on Spanish roads over the next six months. Repsol will supply the fuel, while Bosch will provide a digital fuel-tracking system to certify renewable fuel use across the full lifecycle.

The partners say the main goal is to generate credible operating data that can help show whether renewable gasoline can be deployed at scale today using existing vehicles and refuelling infrastructure.

Not the first time Toyota and BMW collabs. Seen here is the iX5 Hydrogen, which uses knowhow from the Toyota Mirai. It's due on sale in 2028.

That argument is significant in the wider decarbonisation debate, where battery-electric vehicles have become the dominant long-term solution but are not the only route being explored by manufacturers and energy companies.

The findings from the programme are expected to be shared with European Union policymakers and the broader automotive industry, with the hope that they can support further discussion around Vehicles running Exclusively on Eligible Fuels, or VEEF, under EU sustainability rules.

The move also underlines how Toyota and BMW continue to keep multiple pathways open in their emissions strategy, including technologies that can work with the global vehicle parc already on the road rather than waiting for full fleet replacement.