Audi thinkgs e-gas the route to greener carsBy Graeme Fletcher, Montreal Gazette - When it comes to future transportation, most manufacturers are keying on electric propulsion. Nissan envisions the pure electric car as the future (the Leaf), while General Motors favours the extended-range electric car as is typified by the Chevrolet Volt. Audi believes the electrification of the automobile is the right route, but only as long as the power needed to recharge the main battery or create the hydrogen that will feed the fuel cell comes from a sustanainable, renewable resource.
The Audi Balanced Mobility initiative looks at not only the power consumed in the production of a new car but also the fuel consumed over its 200,000-kilometre life and the environmental cost of recycling the vehicle.
Consider the new A6. The balanced approach comes together in a number of ways. Mass reduction (the new A6 is 80 kilograms lighter than its outgoing counterpart) allows a smaller, more fuel-efficient engine and a smaller gas tank without affecting either performance or the per-tank driving range.
Throw in aerodynamic improvements and you end up with much better fuel economy - the new A6's average fuel consumption drops from the outgoing car's 7.1 litres per 100 kilometres to 6.0L/100 km.
The other part of the initiative is both clever and points to the way future fuels will reduce the environmental burden.
The problem with the electrification of the automobile is that not all electricity is created equal. The environmental toll it takes depends very much on how the electricity that's needed to recharge the main battery is produced.
To put things into perspective, it helps to compare the environmental footprint of a regular gasoline-powered family sedan with the footprint of a similarly sized electric car and the electricity it consumes on a well-to-wheel basis.
In countries where electricity production is green, the environmental footprint would be much smaller than where it comes from ... coal.
Audi's clean energy solution is to harness the wind. The company has invested in four wind turbines that produce enough electricity to satisfy the needs of a town of 35,000 people.
If all goes as envisioned, the electricity will be used in one of two ways -- down the road it will satisfy the need to recharge an electric car or the electricity will be used to power an electrolyzer. The latter splits water into oxygen, bled off to the atmosphere, and hydrogen, stored for future use.
When the fuel cell finally comes of age, they hydrogen will provide the fuel required to produce the electricity. In the near term, however, it will be mixed with carbon dioxide, which is harvested from the atmosphere, to create synthetic natural gas. Audi calls it e-gas.
The conversion of electricity into a readily storable medium allows it to heat homes or to be used as a source of automotive fuel. To this end, Audi will launch a turbocharged natural gas-powered (TCNG) version of its next generation A3, which will hit the road in 2013.
The use of wind or solar power to create an automotive fuel, be it the electricity needed to recharge a battery or the e-gas that will fuel compressed natural gas-powered vehicles, is an ingenious solution.
Sure, there is a compromise when electricity is converted into hydrogen because there is some power consumption in the conversion process), but it is this sort of thinking that will solve a moral dilemma and pave the way to a greener automobile.
The Audi Balanced Mobility initiative looks at not only the power consumed in the production of a new car but also the fuel consumed over its 200,000-kilometre life and the environmental cost of recycling the vehicle.
Consider the new A6. The balanced approach comes together in a number of ways. Mass reduction (the new A6 is 80 kilograms lighter than its outgoing counterpart) allows a smaller, more fuel-efficient engine and a smaller gas tank without affecting either performance or the per-tank driving range.
Throw in aerodynamic improvements and you end up with much better fuel economy - the new A6's average fuel consumption drops from the outgoing car's 7.1 litres per 100 kilometres to 6.0L/100 km.
The other part of the initiative is both clever and points to the way future fuels will reduce the environmental burden.
The problem with the electrification of the automobile is that not all electricity is created equal. The environmental toll it takes depends very much on how the electricity that's needed to recharge the main battery is produced.
To put things into perspective, it helps to compare the environmental footprint of a regular gasoline-powered family sedan with the footprint of a similarly sized electric car and the electricity it consumes on a well-to-wheel basis.
In countries where electricity production is green, the environmental footprint would be much smaller than where it comes from ... coal.
Audi's clean energy solution is to harness the wind. The company has invested in four wind turbines that produce enough electricity to satisfy the needs of a town of 35,000 people.
If all goes as envisioned, the electricity will be used in one of two ways -- down the road it will satisfy the need to recharge an electric car or the electricity will be used to power an electrolyzer. The latter splits water into oxygen, bled off to the atmosphere, and hydrogen, stored for future use.
When the fuel cell finally comes of age, they hydrogen will provide the fuel required to produce the electricity. In the near term, however, it will be mixed with carbon dioxide, which is harvested from the atmosphere, to create synthetic natural gas. Audi calls it e-gas.
The conversion of electricity into a readily storable medium allows it to heat homes or to be used as a source of automotive fuel. To this end, Audi will launch a turbocharged natural gas-powered (TCNG) version of its next generation A3, which will hit the road in 2013.
The use of wind or solar power to create an automotive fuel, be it the electricity needed to recharge a battery or the e-gas that will fuel compressed natural gas-powered vehicles, is an ingenious solution.
Sure, there is a compromise when electricity is converted into hydrogen because there is some power consumption in the conversion process), but it is this sort of thinking that will solve a moral dilemma and pave the way to a greener automobile.
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