   Audi Tron Future Lab Experience. Click image to enlarge |
Article and photos by Jonathan Yarkony, additional images courtesy Audi
Berlin, Germany – There are two ways to look at the Audi Tron Future Lab Experience: a demonstration of science fiction tech and forbidden fruit, or a preview of the products and technologies that will soon become household items. Unfortunately, there were no light bikes.
In a place where history meets the future in such a dramatic juxtaposition of old and new, one cannot ignore the optimistic point of view. Berlin is literally a city that has risen from the ashes of war and tragedy and then a subsequent (and not so literal) deep freeze, but it is now a dynamic, bustling city full of hope and excitement with prominent reminders of its tragic history and tributes to those affected by the Holocaust, World War 2 and the Cold War.
Audi’s history isn’t quite so troubled, on the other hand, but it is trying to preserve its vaunted driving experience and marry it to future technologies that will help reduce our carbon footprint and move us to a world of emissions-free personal transportation. The Audi Tron Experience guided us through workshops and demonstrations of progressively more relevant and immediate applications of several technologies: the R18 e-tron Quattro racecar, R8 e-tron supercar, A3 g-tron dual fuel vehicle, A1 e-tron electric vehicle, and A3 e-tron plug-in hybrid.
Audi R18 e-tron Quattro
This is a race car. You will never get to drive this car. We did not get to drive this car. We weren’t even allowed to sit in it. Frankly, I was afraid to touch it.
    Audi R-18 e-tron quattro. Click image to enlarge |
The R18 e-tron quattro is Audi’s entry into the annual 24 hours of Le Mans (which it won again this year) and Le Mans Series. While you won’t soon convince me that the prestige and glory of the racing itself isn’t the primary motivation for Audi’s participation, it is also an advanced field/torture-testing experiment for durability and efficiency.
Of all the stats Audi threw at us regarding the R18’s racing history (wins, 1-2 finishes, etc.), none were more impressive than its failure rate: 0. Of all the cars entered in all the races the R18 has ever entered, none have failed to finish the race. Considering some of these races are 24 hours long, pushing cars beyond limits we could ever achieve at engine speeds we can only imagine, this just blows my mind.
But to get back to the technology in play here, the R18 features a 3.7L V6 turbodiesel with a flywheel kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) powering an electric motor that provides additional power at speeds over 120 km/h.
   Audi R-18 e-tron quattro. Click image to enlarge |
Will you be driving a car with this powertrain in a couple of years? Probably not. But the lessons in aerodynamics, combustion efficiency, energy recovery and materials development (there’s a boatload of carbon fibre keeping the weight down, and then specially placed weights bring the car back up to regulation weight and micromanage weight distribution) are passed on to the teams that engineer the road cars for mass consumption. The flywheel energy storage system concept is one that Volvo is testing in an S60 prototype, so we’ll soon see if this technology trickles down to production cars and spreads.
Turbodiesel technology is spreading throughout the Audi lineup, from the diminutive A3 TDI and its 2.0L diesel to the land yacht Q7 featuring the 3.0L TDI powerplant spreading into seemingly every Volkswagen Group SUV. Speaking of Volkswagen, they will likely be the first to bring a sporty application of a diesel in the upcoming GTD scheduled to arrive in North America within the next couple years, and very likely Canada included. Another dedicated sporty model, the SQ5, will be translated into a gasoline version for North America. In either diesel or gasoline engine, turbocharging and direct injection were proven on Circuit de la Sarthe during Audi’s dominance over the past decade.
Audi R8 e-tron
    Audi R8 e-tron. Click image to enlarge |
Yup, this one we got to drive! Sadly, the R8 e-tron will never enter production, but that should not diminish in any way the accomplishments of the engineers that developed this fully production-ready and regulatory-compliant electric supercar, and this technology is in many cases, transferable to production models.
This is not just an R8 with a battery stuffed into the engine compartment, but a fully reconceived supercar optimized for electric propulsion. Because of the huge weight factor of the battery, Audi went above and beyond in order to reduce weight in other areas, namely the body and chassis. Entire sections are crafted from carbon-fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP), like the front hood, rear hatch, the B pillar, and the entire rear crumple zone and trunk. Even the coil over springs, brake rotors, and front anti-roll bar use CFRP to reduce weight and perform better than conventional metals and alloys. Hopefully, Audi will soon start to apply carbon fibre more functionally than as an interior trim option in their sporty cars as a result of this experimental vehicle.
The rest of the frame consists of forged and cast aluminum, helping the R8 e-tron maintain a reasonable 1,780 kg curb weight, very respectable considering the base V8 R8 weighs in at 1,625 kg and the fully loaded R8 V10 reaches as high as 1,795 kg.
Of course, the most dramatic technology in the R8 e-tron is the electric powertrain, functionally capable of 215 km of range, 0–100 km/h in 4.2 seconds and speed limited to 200 km/h, though during testing, they had it up to 255 km/h. Then again, there is an essential conflict between those performance capabilities and that range – drive it for its performance potential, and you’ll quickly run out of juice, but conserve the battery for maximum range and you’d be denying yourself the soul-fulfilling surge of accelerative g forces pinning you to the chair in a full throttle launch.
  Audi R8 e-tron. Click image to enlarge |
That acceleration is generated by the twin 140-kW motors mounted directly on the rear axle, one connected to each rear wheel. The total is equivalent of 381 hp, and each is connected to its wheel through a single-stage planetary gear. Oh, and the torque that electric motors are legendary for? Over 600 lb-ft combined, available almost instantaneously from 0 rpm.
Because of how the electric motors power the rear wheels separately, Audi had the opportunity to experiment with torque vectoring performance on an entirely different level. Aside from the brain-melting acceleration, the distinct power shifting and stability enhancing qualities of the R8 e-tron were astounding. Intervention is controlled by decreasing the levels of traction and stability control, and never have I experienced so distinct a shift from understeer to near-oversteer by the shift in power to the outside rear wheel.
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Even under acceleration, when powering out of turns, the inside wheel starts recuperating energy, while the outer wheel continues receiving maximum torque.
Brake blending of regen and mechanical brakes in sporty driving is one of the most difficult, but impressive accomplishments of the R8 e-tron. At the press of a steering wheel–mounted button, you can increase or decrease regenerative braking aggression, from maximum energy recuperation at throttle lift to complete free-wheel coasting when looking for speed over efficiency.
It’s hard not to simply swoon over the staggering capabilities of this machine, but the greater value may have been Audi’s in-house design of the battery compartment and controls (battery cells were sourced from Panasonic), which they can now apply to more viable electric vehicles like the A1 e-tron and upcoming hybrids like the A3 e-tron.
