Audi

Inductive charging devices are already making their way into the home as a cable-free option to keep the batteries of everything from mice and keyboards to mobile phones and toothbrushes juiced up. The increasing availability of practical electric vehicles has also seen the technology attract the attention of those looking for for a cable-free way to charge EV batteries. German automakers are taking the opportunity to put inductive charging of EVs to a real-world test as part of the "Effizienzhaus-Plus mit Elektromobilität" project. Read More

Amongst the modern furniture and “design-art” on display at this year’s Design Miami/ international design show visitors were also treated to the Bjarke Ingels Group’s (BIG) vision for the future of urban mobility. Dubbed “Urban Future,” the international architectural firm’s installation, created with the cooperation of Audi, provided a glimpse of how its concept for the city street of the future that networks with vehicles and pedestrians might actually work. Read More

It's a well known fact that simply driving a new car away from the dealership is one of the most horrifically expensive things you'll ever do. ALG measures automotive residual values in the American marketplace - that is, the value of a car when you sell it, three years after purchase. Depreciation of the value of a car is often the largest part of the cost of ownership, and hence a good performance in ALG's Annual Residual Value Awards is a strong indication of how much that brand will cost to drive, and for the average man in the street, the current retained-value king is Subaru. Fuji Heavy Industries Subaru brand has now won the award three years running, with Lexus regaining top spot amongst luxury brands. The report suggests that German and American manufacturers are a long way behind Japanese (11 of the 21 awards) manufacturers in this critical but often overlooked aspect of real car ownership costs. Read More

The FIA, governing body of internal-combustion-engined motorsport, appears to have finally recognized the bleeding obvious (that electric vehicles will become mainstream) and is planning a high profile electric racing championship series beginning in 2013. The FIA Formula E Championship series has not been publicly framed as yet so it is not known if the series will be run at the same venues as the Formula One series but it can be expected to be held at a range of international venues and will logically serve as the first official championship for electric vehicles. Whether the series will have world championship status ... Read More

Toyota is the world's largest car maker and it is going sports car racing. Next year it intends to enter the hotly-contested LMP1 class with a car powered by a petrol hybrid power-train. Toyota's intention to promote its hybrid engine prowess appears certain to invigorate Le Mans racing as Peugeot already has a hybrid diesel under testing for next year and Porsche is rumored to have a hybrid race car ready by 2013. Read More

This Monday, we presented some background information on Audi's all-electric A2 concept car, along with some sketches. Since then, however, the German automaker has released additional details about the vehicle, along with some more lifelike renderings - it seems that the actual, physical car won't be revealed until its appearance at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt next week. Among the new things we've learned about the A2: its body is made partly from carbon fiber-reinforced polymer; it features braking, shifting and steering by wire; and it can operate semi-autonomously in slow-moving traffic. Read More

Audi's A2 electric car will be among the huge list of concept vehicles taking the stage at the 64th International Motor Show in Frankfurt later this month. The automaker has so far only released sketches of the four-seater and there's no specifics as yet on the drivetrain (just the promise of a "powerful electric drive system for agile performance and long range"), but we can expect to see some very interesting dynamic lighting innovations along with a tech-packed interior that includes a steering-wheel-mounted touchscreen. Read More

Audi will unveil a hybrid version of its flagship A8 at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show next month ahead of series production of the vehicle kicking off next year. Audi says a 2.0 TFSI gasoline engine generating 155 kW (211 hp) and 350 Nm (258.15 lb-ft) of torque and a disc-shaped, permanent magnet, synchronous electric motor developing 40 kW (54 hp) and 210 Nm (154.89 lb-ft) combine for a peak output of 180 kW (245 hp) and 480 Nm (345.03 lb-ft) of torque and give the A8 hybrid the power of a six-cylinder model with the fuel consumption of a four-cylinder vehicle. Read More

Last week Audi released sketches of a new lightweight all-electric Urban concept it intends to show at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Now, before we've seen the Sportback version in the flesh, it has decided to add an open-air Spyder version of the 1+1-seat technical study. Both cars feature a continuous, pillarless window area and doors that open upwards for ingress/egress in tight urban surroundings. Even more intriguing is the similarity between the Le-Mans-winning R18 and the Urban concept - see images inside. Read More