Audi will be unleashing a total of 20 specially prepared Audi A1 e-tron range extender electric cars onto the streets of Munich as part of the “eflott” joint venture pilot project between Audi, E.ON, the Munich municipal utility company Stadtwerke München (SWM) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM).
The Audi A1 e-tron is powered by a electric motor that delivers an output equivalent of 102 PS, drawing power from a lithium-ion battery mounted within the floor assembly in front of the rear axle of the A1 e-tron. This electric motor can take the A1 e-tron up to a top speed of 81 mph and it can go about 31 miles in city traffic.
But what happens beyond 31 miles? A small combustion engine will be started up to generate power to recharge the batteries, and what’s most interesting is that this small combustion engine is a small single-rotor Wankel rotary engine, with 15 kW of charging output. It would be interesting to find out why exactly Audi chose to use a Wankel rotary engine design for its range extender combustion engine.
Supporting these A1 e-tron cars are a total of 200 newly installed charging stations. These stations will enable experts to address a number of issues, from the data transfer between the driver, vehicle and electric filling station to the power grid and the use of smartphones as the central interface for the driver.
According to a draft standard for the calculation of fuel consumption for range extender vehicles, the A1 e-tron will be able to achieve a fuel economy figure of 148.7mpg and a CO2 output of only 45 g/km.
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Just waiting for the full production model to hit the streets.
Only then we will be able to access how good / reliable these cars will perform
cos at the moment everything is rather sketchy and on paper only.
Looking forward to the future in motoring !!
However by then trust me, the oil cartels will drop fuel prices to dampen
the plans to produce alternative / more fuel efficient cars.
Its good to see that Audi is paying so much of effort on A1. Hope that this model will arrive in Malaysia soon with reasonable price tag.
like a savvy
which one is better Audi A1 e-tron or 5-door Proton EMAS?….both hav similar miles, but audi has bigger hp(100hp=102ps)..both i believe still in concept phase.
if not mistaken, proton has scrapped EMAS concept – leaving it as pure prototype project
Rotary engine – Fewer moving parts, high power output for its size. I won’t be surprised if that 15kW is being generated by a rotary engine of 300cc displacement or thereabouts. Also, it would be very compact, and it is inherently balanced. If you put a 2- or 4-stroke 1-cylinder or 2-cylinder engine in there, balance shaft or not, the engine will vibrate like hell. But not so with a rotary unit. Furthermore, starting and stopping a rotary engine takes less inertia. You can start it up easily without needing to overcome much reciprocal mass. Once spinning, there isn’t much reciprocal mass to slow it down because everything in the engine moves along the same axis.
Great comment!
Paul,
Please check out the Exora hybrid. This article would work for both the A1 and the hybrid Exora. :)
No wonder why motocross is using rotary engine then, more power. Great info though.
i never know that motorcross use wankel rotary. not single cylinder piston?
Yea, typically rotary engines are expensive to manufacture but here it only needs a small engine and that might just be the right spot for the rotary to make a comeback.
Also, rotary engines can easily reach high RPMs, allowing a wider torque range.
torque output for rotary engines are not that good in reality, therefore not suitable for heavy cars like mazda 6 or camry/accord. this is why we only see them in light and sport-oriented cars like RX7 and RX8.
rotary engine also uses more fuel and tend to have more oil leakage compared to normal engine.
It depends on the design of the rotary engine.. where the ports are located, and the way the rotor circumscribes the eccentric chambers. After decades of research and commercial use, I’m pretty sure those small-capacity rotary engines should be quite refined compared to 2- or 3-cylinder reciprocal engines.
i’m proud to be savvy owner..
Hail nature friendly cars!
guess the time will come for the owners to feels its lack of power and converted to rx7 rx8 engine.. hehe..
lithium battery is similar to watch batteries right? must be smaller than nickel cadmium but similar power… nice…
Its lithium-ion battery, like the rechargeable one one in your hand phone.
Hmm, 31km is just enough for me to travel to office daily, appreciate if can do 100km round trip so can work-shop-back
Batteries cars are insane and daft.
At least in AD 2010.