Audi 2013 Annual Report Download - page 183

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
PRODUCT-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS
MANAGEMENT REPORT
180
A
PRODUCT-BASED
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS
/ FUTURE MOBILITY
Our brand essence “Vorsprung durch Technik” encompasses
Audi’s self-perception as playing a decisive role in defining the
shape of future mobility. It is our ambition to reconcile fuel
consumption with comfort, sportiness and driving pleasure. The
sustainable use of finite resources and the gradual reduction in
fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are of central importance
for Audi.
For many years, the Audi brand has been highly influential in
defining standards of efficiency in the automotive industry
through its diverse technologies – for example through innova-
tive engine concepts such as TDI, FSI and TFSI, or through Audi
lightweight technology. The adoption of technologies from the
modular efficiency platform also helps to cut fuel consumption
and CO2 emissions further.
Electrified drive concepts represent a further focal area within
our technology matrix. We bring together all activities revolving
around electric mobility under Audi e-tron. In addition to all-
electric driving, this includes plug-in hybrids and vehicles with
a range extender. Plug-in hybrid technology provides a very
important bridge to all-electric driving in that respect. In the
past fiscal year, the Audi brand presented another concept vehi-
cle with plug-in hybrid technology at the International Motor
Show (IAA) in Frankfurt am Main to mark the 30th anniversary
of the Sport quattro – the Audi Sport quattro concept. In addi-
tion, the Audi allroad shooting brake showcar was exhibited at
the Detroit Motor Show in January 2014.
To achieve the goal of all-electric mobility, we are pursuing an
integrated approach spanning all aspects of electric driving. One
example of this is charging technology. Audi has thus joined
forces with several other German and American carmakers to
work on the definition of a standardized charging system for
electric vehicles that will substantially facilitate electric mobility
and promote their use throughout the world – the Combined
Charging System.
Further information and explanations can be found
under “Combined Charging System” on page 161.
In pursuit of the goal of carbon-neutral mobility, here at Audi we
do more than simply seek to reduce the CO2 emissions produced
when a vehicle is driven; we also look at the overall environmen-
tal footprint of our products over their life cycle. That is why
the Audi Group is working on various research projects focused
on sustainability. For example, we are cooperating with expert
partners to explore in depth a technology that makes it possi-
ble to absorb CO2 directly from the ambient air. The CO2 mole-
cules captured in this way can then be reused – for example in
automotive air conditioning systems or in the manufacture of
synthetic fuels.
We took a further step in the direction of carbon-neutral mobil-
ity in opening the Audi e-gas plant in Werlte in summer 2013.
Using renewable power, for example from wind turbines, the
Werlte plant produces synthetic methane, which is chemically
almost identical to natural gas and can be used as a largely
carbon-neutral source of power for natural gas vehicles such as
the A3 Sportback g-tron, because only as much CO2 is released
into the atmosphere as was previously captured in the produc-
tion process.
Further information can be found on page 161 under
the heading “Opening of Audi e-gas plant in Werlte.”
CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
Corporate responsibility at Audi is about acting responsibly, taking economic,
ecological and social considerations into account. Sustainability as the
outcome of responsible entrepreneurial decisions has implications for our
products, the natural environment, our employees and our social involvement.