From concept to reality, Audi e-tron electric drive technology analysis

2012 can be regarded as the year of the rise of hybrid vehicles. At the end of July, the State Council issued the "Energy-saving and New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2012-2020)", which clearly pointed out that hybrid vehicles should be vigorously promoted and popularized. Guangzhou temporarily implemented a license plate restriction policy at 9 pm on August 30 to respond to the national industrial development plan and provide a 10,000 yuan car purchase subsidy to car owners who purchase new energy vehicles. With the rapid expansion of hybrid vehicle lineups and the release of pure electric vehicles, the wave of new energy vehicles is getting higher and higher. We have introduced some mainstream hybrid technologies in the technical channel before. Today we are going to learn about the famous e-tron electric drive technology of the Audi brand.

● Audi's future car solution - the transition from hybrid to e-tron

In 2012, Audi mainly promoted hybrid models in the general civilian car market. By integrating the electric motor built into the gearbox, power electronics and lithium battery modules on the traditional engine models, the purpose of improving vehicle power and fuel economy was achieved.

For example, the familiar Q5 hybrid quattro is a standard full hybrid model. It is equipped with a 155kW 2.0L TFSI EA888 turbocharged engine and a 40kW permanent magnet synchronous motor. When the engine and the motor are output at the same time, it can burst out a maximum power of 180kW and a maximum torque of 410Nm. In addition, the Q5 hybrid quattro also has a pure electric mode, which can maintain a constant speed of 60km/h for 3 kilometers. Even though the power of hybrid models far exceeds that of traditional power models and their fuel economy is also better, they still cannot achieve zero emissions and pure electric driving for a long mileage. Future Audi e-tron models will mainly use electric motors to drive the vehicle, which can achieve a long mileage in pure electric mode.

● e-tron electric technology started at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show

Audi e-tron electric technology began with the Audi e-tron concept car exhibited at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. In just three years, Audi has expanded the application scope of e-tron technology from concept cars to actual mass-produced models. Let's review the development history of Audi e-tron technology.

The Audi e-tron concept car is a pure electric car that uses four electric motors and a set of lithium batteries. Its pure electric power system has a maximum power of 230kW and a maximum torque of an astonishing 4500Nm (the power of a traditional gasoline engine is only a few hundred Nm at most), and an acceleration time of 0-100km/h of only 4.8s.

The Audi e-tron concept car, which was exhibited at the 2010 North American International Auto Show, uses two electric motors to drive the rear wheels, and its appearance is similar to the model exhibited at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The maximum power output of this rear-wheel drive model is 150kW, the maximum torque is 2650Nm, and the acceleration time from 0 to 100km/h is 5.9s.

The Audi A1 e-tron is a range-extended electric vehicle that uses a 45kW electric motor (peak output of 75kW) to drive the front axle of the vehicle. It is also equipped with a 254cc rotary engine to drive a 15kW range-extended generator.

The Audi e-tron spyder is a range-extended electric vehicle. Its rear axle is driven by a 3.0L V6 TDI twin-turbocharged diesel engine with a maximum power of 221kW and a maximum torque of 650Nm; the front axle uses two electric motors that can generate a maximum power of 64kW and a maximum torque of 352Nm. The Audi e-tron spyder has a 50:50 body weight distribution and a four-wheel drive system optimized for handling, making its handling and power performance extremely excellent. This power layout of front electric motor and rear engine is also used in the Audi e-tron R18 endurance racing car.

The Audi A6L BEV is a pure electric vehicle that is powered by electricity alone. It has a maximum range of 130km on a single charge and a maximum speed of 138km/h. When the battery is exhausted, it can be charged at home using an external charger. As the car has not yet been finalized, no more detailed parameters have been announced.

Audi Q5 HFC (Hybrid Fuel Cell) is a fuel cell vehicle that uses the core technology of the A2H2 concept car (based on Audi A2) launched by Audi in 2004. The low-temperature hydrogen fuel cell of Audi Q5 HFC can reach a power of 98kW, while the auxiliary lithium battery has a power of 37kW. The two electric motors are located on the front and rear axles, which can generate a maximum power of 90kW and a maximum torque of 420Nm. The acceleration time of Audi Q5 HFC from 0 to 100km/h is 13.4 seconds, the maximum speed is 160km/h, and the cruising range can reach 500 kilometers.

The Audi A3 e-tron is a pure electric vehicle with a permanent magnet synchronous motor with a maximum power of 60kW (peak power can reach 100kW) and a maximum torque of 279Nm placed on the front axle of the vehicle.

The Audi A3 e-tron concept is a plug-in hybrid vehicle, equipped with a 155kW 1.4TFSI engine and a 20kW electric motor, the two power systems work together to produce a maximum power of 175kW.

The Audi A6L e-tron is a plug-in hybrid model, and its drive structure is similar to the Audi A3 e-tron concept mentioned above. The difference is that the Audi A6L e-tron uses a 155kW 2.0L TFSI engine and a 70kW electric motor as power. In pure electric mode, the Audi A6L e-tron can travel 80km at a cruising speed of 60km/h.

The R8 e-tron model, which will be launched in Europe at the end of this year, is a pure electric super sports car that uses four electric motors to drive four wheels. The four electric motors can generate a total of 230kW of maximum power and 4500Nm of maximum torque. The launch of the R8 e-tron means the maturity of all-wheel electric drive technology and the civilianization of e-quattro electric four-wheel drive technology.

In 2012, Audi R18 e-tron quattro brought e-tron electric drive technology to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time, which is an ultra-high-level test of the reliability, efficiency and durability of the system and the whole vehicle. The rear axle of Audi R18 e-tron quattro racing car is driven by a 3.7L TDI turbocharged engine with a maximum power of 375kW, and the front axle is driven by a 51kW electric motor. The two power sources together build a "hybrid" four-wheel drive system. In addition, Audi R18 e-tron quattro also uses the flywheel KERS kinetic energy recovery system (KERS: Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems) from the F1 Williams team.