Audi 2009 Annual Report Download - page 169

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Driver information system with efficiency program
This evolutionary version of the Audi driver information system continually analyzes energy
consumption in the vehicle and gives the driver recommendations on efficient driving. For ex-
ample the redesigned gear-change indicator shows whether changing gear will improve effi-
ciency. Fuel economy also deteriorates the more active comfort functions such as air condition-
ing and seat heating are used. A specially developed graphic in the efficiency program now in-
forms the driver which vehicle systems require additional energy and how much they contribute
towards overall fuel consumption. Because fuel economy can vary by as much as 30 percent
depending on a person’s driving style, the driver information system with efficiency program is a
useful way of cutting consumption.
TDI clean diesel
In 2009, the Audi Group launched what is currently the cleanest compression-ignition technol-
ogy in the world – TDI clean diesel technology. Injection of an additive by the name of AdBlue®
reduces nitrogen emissions by up to 90 percent (® = registered trademark of the “Verband der
Automobilindustrie e.V.” (VDA)). The nitrogen oxides are broken down into nitrogen and water
by a chemical reaction set off by the additive and the hot exhaust flow.
TDI clean diesel technology was first used in 2009 in the Audi Q7 3.0 TDI clean diesel. The sport
utility vehicle, which has a power output of 176 kW (240 hp), therefore averages only 8.9 liters
of diesel fuel per 100 kilometers and achieves emissions of 234 g CO2/km.
The Audi A4 3.0 TDI clean diesel quattro means that this progressive diesel technology has also
been available in the successful A4 car line since fall 2009. These models already undercut the
limit values of the toughest emission standard in the United States, ULEV II BIN 5, as well as the
Euro 6 emission standard that will come into force from 2014.
Core competence of lightweight construction
The Audi Group will maintain lightweight construction as one of its core competencies because,
alongside using efficiency technologies, reducing the weight of a vehicle is one of the basic re-
quirements of developing highly efficient automobiles. The Audi Group has operated a Light-
weight Design Center at Neckarsulm since as far back as 1994, where it now investigates alu-
minum, high-strength steels, magnesium and fiber-reinforced plastics.
The Audi Group revolutionized the use of lightweight construction in cars over 15 years ago with
its Audi Space Frame (ASF) technology and has been among the leaders in this field ever since.
The high-strength all-aluminum body yields a weight saving of around 40 percent compared
with conventional lightweight steel bodies – a difference of some 140 kilograms in the case of
the Audi A8, for example. Around 600,000 vehicles of the Audi A2, TT Coupé and TT Roadster,
Audi A8 and R8 models, plus the Lamborghini Gallardo, have already been built using all-
lightweight or hybrid construction technology and are now in use by customers. The European
Patent Office recognized the Audi Group’s work in the field of Audi Space Frame technology in
2008 in choosing it as winner of the “European Inventor of the Year 2008, Technology Category”
award.
The innovative material of fiber-reinforced plastics, including carbon-fiber reinforced plastic
(CFRP), also offers particular potential for further weight savings. Use of this high-tech material
helps to trim up to 30 percent more off the weight of a vehicle compared with an aluminum
lightweight-construction body. The exclusive material CFRP has thus far been used mainly in
aerospace, racing cars and small-series vehicles. To prepare for its use in volume production, the
Audi Group is stepping up its development activities in this area and has established a CFRP
Technical Research Lab at the Audi Lightweight Design Center in Neckarsulm.