“We wanted to drive electric, but for a long time there were no electric cars able to meet our needs,” says Liselotte Lunde (36). The family, which now counts five, had high standards when they searched for their new family car: enough space for everyone including luggage (e.g. prams, bicycles, skis, and sleds). In addition, they needed a range that took them where they wanted to go, even in wintertime, and with three kids in the active family first-class safety for everyone.

The first electric car to thoroughly meet their requirements was the Audi e-tron. The techy family committed early when Audi launched its first all-electric car and the Lunde family had already received their e-tron 55 quattro by the spring of 2019.

Perfect car for the cabin

“It was important for us to be able to drive to the cabin without stopping, even in the winter,” Lunde says. Uphill driving and winter roads are no problem at all for the electric drivetrain. And the last part of the road to the family cottage is steep. That’s why they really appreciate the quattro system: “The electric four-wheel drive in the Audi e-tron gives us safety. We are never worried about not arriving at our destination, regardless of the conditions. And it is especially important for us now, with a baby in the back seat,” says Lunde.

When they switched from a traditional car to an electric car in 2019, the biggest difference they experienced was the technological leap: “Our car has LED-Matrix lights, which are absolutely superb in the Norwegian winter darkness. We also have a night vision assistant, which is a great help in warning us if there’s a moose in or near the road. In addition, it is incredibly convenient to be able to do so much via the app. We can set the pre-air conditioning of the car from our bed. The Audi e-tron is not just a car, but a car offering service. It solves challenges in our everyday life,” says Lunde. The air suspension, which can be raised and lowered, is also one of the technical solutions that make the Audi e-tron suitable as a winter car in Norway.

Increased range

When they got their car, the range was stated to be 417 km (WLTP). In the autumn of 2021, this was increased to 436 km with an update to the car’s software. “For our part, the range has always been sufficient, even in winter. We have a charging option both at home and at the cabin and can start every morning with a ‘full tank’. Normally, we only charge to 80 percent, and that gives us an everyday life completely free of range worries,” says Lunde.

In addition, climatization of the car before departure offers great benefits through the Norwegian winter: “It’s great to be able to drive off in a heated car that’s free of ice. With a baby on board, it’s much easier to not have to get into the car wrapped up warm,” Lunde observes.

Intelligent thermal control

The reason behind the trouble-free everyday life is also thanks to Audi’s intelligent thermal control system: “The Audi e-tron has four thermal circuits. A heat pump draws surplus energy from both the propulsion components and the environment, so that both the passenger compartment and the battery is tempered efficiently. “It is up to three times more efficient than using a traditional heater with electric heating elements,” explains Pierre Woltmann, who has been responsible for the development of the thermal control of the high-voltage battery in the e-tron at Audi. He also emphasizes the importance of using pre-air conditioning, as the Lunde family does: “When the car is preheated using the Wallbox, a significant range gain can be achieved, especially for short driving distances. If you drive short trips with a cold car, a relatively larger share of the energy will be used for heating compared to what is used for propulsion,” he continues. In the Nordic countries, the Audi e-tron is supplied with increased capacity for heating the battery. This can be delivered as part of the Winter Package, which is also offered in other European countries.

Smart heating tip

The Lunde family has learned several practical tips that both contribute to comfort and control through the Norwegian winter. “If we haven’t had time to use pre-heating, we use the heating in the steering wheel and heat the seats for maximum comfort from the start of a trip. And on the shortest trips this is sufficient,” says Lunde. “Proximal heating, as Lunde describes here, is a smart tip to save range on short trips. It requires far less energy to heat the car’s contact surfaces in the seat and steering wheel than to heat the entire car,” Woltmann explains.

Always driving with active navigation

Another tip the Lunde family picked up was to always use navigation with a destination for the slightly longer trips. “We always drive with active navigation to the cabin, even though we obviously know the way by heart,” says Lunde. “Without navigation set up with a destination, the system bases the range estimate on the last 100 kilometers driven. With the navigation target activated, the e-tron route planner has access to current information about the road you are going to drive on and can calculate energy consumption and range tailored for the upcoming drive. Therefore, you get the best estimate of the remaining range when driving with active navigation. If necessary, the system will then also recommend a charging stop, and include the charging time in the estimate for the arrival time,” Woltmann explains.

Thermal benefits also for fast charging

The Lunde family uses fast charging to a small extent, since they have such good access to home charging. But for longer trips they occasionally have to charge along the way, for example on holiday trips, which makes them appreciate the fast and stable charging performance of the e-tron. “The maximum charging power of 150 kW makes the charging stops short. But perhaps the most important thing is that the high level of power is available for a large part of the charging process,” says Lunde. “Even with fast charging (DC), the Audi e-tron utilizes the intelligent thermal control of the battery. This means that the high charging power can be used over a longer period of time than without this possibility of thermal regulation,” Woltmann explains.

No way back

“The most important learning from our transition to an electric car is how easy it is in everyday life. Inserting the charging cable when we park in the evening and using the ‘myAudi’ app to set departure times are things we just do and no longer think about,” says Lunde. In addition, they appreciate the tech experience they get with the Audi e-tron: “We discovered that Audi had made a modern and smart car when they first arrived in the EV market,” Lunde says. Since the spring of 2019, they have so far, at the beginning of 2022, driven over 30,000 kilometers with their e-tron 55 quattro2. “Audi e-tron has really convinced us that electric cars do work, even through a Norwegian winter. This is the future and we will never choose anything other than an all-electric car again,” Lunde concludes.

Article source: www.audi-mediacenter.com

The Audi RS Q e-tron, with which Audi clinched four stage victories in January, was just one of the stars on the icy course in Zell am See. Audi Tradition also brought along the Audi quattro A2 Group B rally car, which competed in the 1983 Rally Finland. In addition, a DKW F 91 and a DKW Hartmann Formula V caused quite a stir.

For Ken Block, the weekend trip to Europe was like a visit to automotive paradise. “The laps in the Audi RS Q e-tron were a phenomenal experience – even though the car probably feels more comfortable in the desert than in the snow,” said Ken Block. “Thanks to Mattias Ekström, who patiently explained all the special features of his car to me. A few minutes behind the wheel was enough to understand the fascination of this car.”

Mattias Ekström was impressed. “It only took three turns for Ken to get fully up to speed,” said the Swede, who, with ninth place, was the most successful Audi driver in the 2022 Dakar Rally. For Ekström, the event in Austria was also the perfect preparation for his participation in the prestigious “Race of Champions”, which was held in the north of Sweden last weekend. Ekström only had to admit defeat to the eventual winner Sébastien Loeb in the semifinals.

In addition to testing the Audi RS Q e-tron, Ken Block also took a little trip down memory lane and drifted around the circuit in the Audi quattro A2. For the American, who was inspired by Audi rally cars as a teenager, this was a personal highlight: “An insane moment that I won’t forget in a hurry.” Soon there will be even more moments like this: With the purely electric Audi S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron, which Audi developed as a one-off exclusively for Ken Block and which was inspired by the Audi Sport quattro S1, the Hoonigan team is producing a video entitled “Electrikhana” that will be released in the next few months and will be the latest chapter of their “Gymkhana” series.

Article source: www.audi-mediacenter.com

“The Audi FAW NEV Company will play a central role in our electrification strategy in China. We are excited to have achieved another important milestone in the realization of this project along with our partner FAW. Now we can give all our attention to the continued setting-up of the company as well as begin with construction on the new plant,” says Markus Duesmann, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG. 

New plant sets standards in Audi production network

On an area of approximately 150 hectares, a highly modern plant for fully electric Audi models will be constructed by the end of 2024. “As the newest Audi production site, the plant will set new standards in digitalization, efficiency, and sustainability. By setting up the new Audi FAW NEV Company, we will bring a fresh charge to e-mobility in China,” says Jürgen Unser, President of Audi China. A completely new IT architecture will be put into place to network all site processes. The cross-site environmental program Mission:Zero sets the parameters for sustainability, ensuring production at the Changchun site will be CO2 neutral and fully connected. Production areas at the plant will include a press shop, body construction, paint shop, and final assembly line in addition to an in-house battery assembly. The first buildings will be erected in Changchun when the frost period ends.

Visitors and customers have been able to explore the Audi location through factory visits since 2011. There is still a lot of interest in experiencing e-tron production, says Peter D’hoore, Spokesperson for Audi Brussels. “We still get a lot of inquiries. AudiStream makes it possible to meet that desire, even if on-site tours are currently impossible due to the coronavirus.”

Video recordings as a guide through the factory premises

The stream had hardly started when a virtual guide received an online visitor: “Hello, dear viewer! Welcome, herzlich willkommen, hartelijk welkom, and bienvenue to AudiStream! My name is Birgit Peters and I'd like to invite you to Brussels today. The company with the four rings has an exciting location there. On behalf of all the employees, I will be showing you the factory where Audi’s first fully electric series model has been produced since 2018.” Video recordings then guide visitors across the Belgian factory grounds. The factory has had an eventful history since it was founded in 1949. This location reached a new milestone in November 2021 when it produced its eight millionth car, an Audi e-tron. In January 2022, Audi Brussels won the 2021 Industrial Excellence Award Belgium.

The central theme of the tour is the factory’s transformation from producing combustion engines to specializing in electric drive systems: “When the last A1 left our halls in 2018, we could only guess what kinds of challenges were headed our way. We, the Audi factory in the unofficial capital of Europe, were suddenly pioneers in electric mobility.” Audi rebuilt the entire factory for that and prepared its employees with hundreds of thousands of hours of advanced training on production of the new kind of drive system. Viewers can now marvel at the location’s modernization in fast forward.

Exclusive views into Audi e-tron production

The tour then takes viewers into the world of e-tron production – from the body to the paint shop to final assembly. For instance, in body construction, they experience how people and robots work harmoniously together and provide perfect welding, soldering, and bonding. In final assembly, streaming guests can see how over 1,000 parts are assembled on a belt that is more than a kilometer long. That is followed by a look at the mechanics, where the powertrain and the battery come together. Lastly, there is the final quality test, when all the functions and gap dimensions are checked again.

For its look at production, Audi Brussels has saved its high-voltage battery manufacturing facility – the location’s showpiece and unique feature – for the finale. Each battery’s seals, electric functions, and, of course, power are checked.

Contribution to climate protection: Audi Brussels’ sustainability

Production of the entire series in this factory is carbon neutral. Audi Brussels has already been repeatedly honored for that. The location is particularly proud of its solar power system, which covers more than 107,000 square meters (1,151,738 sq. ft.). That makes it one of the largest solar power systems in greater Brussels: each year, it saves Audi Brussels around 1,900 tons of CO2 and generates over 9,000 megawatt hours of electricity – enough to supply about 2,500 households with electricity for a year.

Consequently, the factory in Brussels is not only a pioneer and a model for electromobility, but also a pioneer in sustainability. Starting now, anyone who is interested can see for themselves and take a virtual tour via AudiStream or www.audibrussels.be.

Article source: www.audi-mediacenter.com