Audi has announced its plans to test the Audi A1 e-tron range extended vehicle in the Munich region of Germany, as a part of the “Model Region Electromobility Munich” sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Transport.
By the middle of next year, 20 Audi A1 e-tron models will hit the road as part of a project made in collaboration with E.ON, the Munich municipal utility company Stadtwerke Munchen (SWM) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM).
The Audi A1 e-tron is a Mega City Vehicle (MCV) with an electric drive. It has a range of more than 50 kilometers in city traffic and a peak power output of 75 kW (102 hp). A compact internal combustion engine recharges the battery when its energy is depleted.
Top speed is 130 km/h (80.78 mph). The compact MCV is a zero-emissions vehicle for the first 50 kilometers (31.07 miles) that it is underway, such as in city traffic. The battery comprises a package of lithium-ion modules mounted in the floor assembly in front of the rear axle.
A small, single-rotor Wankel engine in this near-series vehicle increases the range in exceptional circumstances. This “range extender” powers a generator that produces 15 kW of charging power. If the range extender is used to recharge the battery, the A1 e-tron can cover an additional 200 kilometers (124.27 miles) of range. According to a draft standard for the computation of fuel consumption for range extender vehicles, this represents a fuel consumption of 1.9 l/100 km (123.80 mpg) – a CO2 equivalent of only 45 g/km (72.42 g/mile).
The ‘eflott’ project will address a number of issues from the data transfer between the driver, vehicle and electric charging station to the power grid. It will also include a test of smartphones as the central interface for the driver.
E.ON andSWM will build 200 electric charging stations, which use electricity produced from renewable sources, to keep the fleet powered up.
The TUM is responsible for comprehensive data collection and evaluation of mobility behaviour, including how heavily and in which situation the electric car is being used and what influence the option has on the use of other means of transportation. The TUM’s Department of Vehicle Engineering has developed a mobile application that will be provided on a smartphone to all participants of the fleet trial. The device will document users’ mobility behaviour – from their use of bicycles to the electric cars and from conventional cars to buses and trains.
The TUM’s Department of Marketing is also conducting a study to discover which billing models for the electricity used for e-mobility meet with the greatest acceptance.[wzslider height=”400″ lightbox=”true”]
