Audi commissioned a new development and testing center for electric drive systems at its Ingolstadt site this week – providing the company with an ideal environment for development of hybrid and electric vehicles.
Around 840 employees will now work here to further advance drive systems, batteries and power electronics – using highly networked methods.
Audi invested approximately € 65 million in the new building over the past two years. The 14,000-square-meter (150,690-square-feet) building houses numerous state-of-the-art test rigs, which can be used to test electric drive concepts. Over a total of seven stories, engineers initially test the individual components, then simulate the interaction of drive system, battery and power electronics, and finally assemble the entire drivetrain for testing. In the next testing phase, tests are run with the complete vehicle in the altitude simulation chamber and the deep-freeze testing rig, subjecting the cars to various climatic conditions at 4,200 meters (13,779.53 feet) in altitude and temperatures of -40°C to +60°C (-40°F to +140°F).
“With the new development and testing center for electric drive systems, we’ve reached an important milestone on the way to e-mobility,” said Michael Dick, Audi Board Member for Technical Development. “Consolidating the employees involved in the development process in one area allows solutions to be found quickly and efficiently.” The Audi Q5 Hybrid will be introduced to the market as early as next year. By the end of 2012, Audi will have a small volume of R8 e-tron electric sports cars ready to hit the road.
Audi is making sustained investments in the future in order to achieve its goal of selling 1.5 million cars per year by 2015. Plans call for € 2.2 billion to be invested by 2012 in fixed assets at the Audi Ingolstadt site alone. In addition, the company will hire around 500 new employees this year. Special emphasis is being placed on the promising areas of electromobility and lightweight construction.
