Audi

The large roof areas of factories and production plants are an obvious choice for the installation of solar cells and Audi has just announced it will install additional photovoltaic modules on a 7,500 square meter (80,729 sq. ft.) area of the roof of its main plant in Ingolstadt, Germany. The expanded solar capacity will be used to charge the batteries of Audi’s e-tron models using new electric car charging stations and will also be used to provide green electricity to the plants’ production facilities. Read More

Not long ago, there was informed debate on whether a purpose-built computer would ever beat a chess master. Now mobile phones have achieved Grand Master status. Computers continue to get exponentially faster, not to mention considerably smarter through improved software, whereas humans are effectively nearing their limits. Hence, it’s arguably only a matter of time and R&D focus before computers (plus improved sensors and software) surpass any specific human capability. This week Audi revealed that its Autonomous TTS research car had completed the 12.42-mile Pike’s Peak mountain course in 27 minutes. An expert driver in the same car would take around 17 minutes – now we have a benchmark, the race is on, and it's almost inevitable that a computer will one day outdrive the best of our species, and it may be sooner than you think. Read More

As electric cars take to the streets, the people at Audi have been confronted with what they see as a new problem to solve: their cars are too quiet. Acoustic technicians have been enlisted to find the new sound of Audi, and it won't be a roaring V8 or hissing turbo – the inspiration might just come from the sci-fi world. Read More

Until now Audi has pretty much limited hybrid technology to its concept cars such as its A1 Sportback, e-tron Spyder and metroproject quattro. That is set to change with the upcoming Q5 hybrid quattro – the company’s first hybrid model with two drive systems. Audi claims the vehicle will have power comparable to a V6 coupled with fuel consumption like that of a four-cylinder Turbocharged Direct Injection (TDI) turbodiesel engine vehicle. Read More

We took a shine to the Audi e-tron Quattro when it appeared in Frankfurt last year followed by a smaller version in Detroit. Why? Because it's simply stunning to look at... and has specs to match. The latest iteration was unveiled at the 2010 Paris Auto Show this morning – the e-tron Spyder concept. This open-top, plug-in-hybrid two-seater combines a 221-kW (300-hp) twin-turbo V6 TDI at the rear axle and two electric motors at the front to deliver a limited top speed of 250 km/h (155.34 mph), reaching 100 km/h (62.14 mph) from a standing start in just 4.4 seconds. Read More

Volkswagen's 1.4-liter TSI Twincharger has taken out the International Engine of the Year Award for the second year running. The engine, which punches above its weight via the use of a combined turbocharger and supercharger, is only the third to take out the overall award in consecutive years (BMW in 05-06 with its 5-litre V10 and again in 07-08 with its 3-litre twin turbo). Other winners in the 2010 Awards included Fiat with its 1.4-liter MultiAir Turbo engine (New Engine of the Year), Toyota with the 1.8-liter electric-motor-boosted hybrid from the Prius (Green Engine of the Year) and Mercedes-AMG with its 6.2-liter V8 engine (Best Performance Engine and Above 4-liter title). BMW also featured prominently picking up four gongs. Read More

Audi has already set a high standard in terms of in-car audio systems through collaborations with premium suppliers Bang & Olufsen and Bose. Now its development engineers are looking to usher in the next revolution of in-car hi-fi with the Audi Sound Concept. To help bring a physical principle called "wave field synthesis" to the automobile, the company has crammed a standard Audi Q7 with 62 speakers - five woofers and five tweeters plus 52 mid-range speakers. Read More

Not all that long ago, the mere thought of running a diesel in any form of motorsport would have had you laughed at. Diesel victories are now commonplace in long distance races thanks to the excellent power characteristics, reliability, the low fuel consumption of diesel engines and a battle between the two main TDI-engined cars in the form of the Peugeot 908 and Audi's R15. Audi Sport Team Joest added to the diesel legend on the weekend with a 1-2-3 victory using newly developed Variable Turbine Geometry (VTG) turbo-chargers on the R15's 440 kW V10 engine. The Peugeot 908s locked out the first two rows in qualifying and led the race until the 16 hour mark, but one by one, they suffered engine failure, and after 24 hours, Audi took all three steps on the podium. It wasn't exactly a rerun of the hare and the tortoise though, as the winning R15 racked up more 5,410 kilometers - more distance than has ever been achieved in 78 prior runnings of the French endurance classic. This was all the more remarkable in that it eclipsed a record set in 1971 by a Porsche 917 when the Hunaudières straight had no speed-slowing chicanes. Well done Audi! Read More

Traffic lights are an essential part of keeping chaos at bay on our city streets, but the idea didn't exactly get off to a flying start. The first gas-lit traffic light appeared outside the British Houses of Parliament in London in December 1868 but exploded two months later (which was bad news for the policeman operating it) and when the first electric lights appeared in the U.S. in 1912, apparently no-one wanted to stop for a “flashing bird house.” Gradually the technology improved and interconnected lights that could be automatically rather than manually controlled appeared in the 1920s. Now we could be seeing another great leap forward - traffic lights that talk to cars. That's the basis of Audi's travolution project which sets up a dialogue between vehicles and traffic lights in order to keep traffic flowing, save fuel, reduce emissions and possibly help keep drivers saner in the process. Read More