4 June 2009
Audi’s board member for technical development, Michael Dick, talks to Simon Bickerstaffe of Automotive Engineer about his plans to cut weight and CO2
Which powertrain technologies are top of your
list right now?
“We’re working on our conventional technologies – front-wheel drive and Quattro four-wheel drive. We’re working hard to make the Quattro system more effective with our torque vectoring sport rear differential.
"We’re also working on hybrid and electric vehicles. The first will be the the Q5 Quattro hybrid. It will be out by 2011 and will have lithium-ion cells. Our investigations into powertrain electrification include full electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, and electric drives with range extenders. We are cooperating with Sanyo on Li-ion technology."
What do you see as the optimum solution for
a range extender engine?
“I don’t think anybody knows exactly what the best solution is yet. We’ll use the next two years to find the optimum for Audi. For our small cars we can use technology from within the Volkswagen Group. Our colleagues at VW are working on transverse engines and we are working on longitudinal engines."
Do you see thermoelectrics as a useful technology?
“It could be useful. But our first priorities are hybrid and electric powertrains and lightweight construction for the next-generation modular longitudinal platform (MLP). We need to push this because we need a lightweight basis for the electrification of the car."
How will you make Audis lighter?
“We have an in-depth investigation to make cars much lighter than today – we want a downward weight spiral. We’re using the MLP as the basis for our studies. Our first prototype, based on an S5 coupe, is 400kg lighter."
How have you achieved such a big weight saving?
“We have a spaceframe body-in-white. It’s flexible so we can make a hybrid steel-aluminium body, like the TT coupe, and we vary the amount of aluminium. Without changing the styling we can change the weight. We have several versions, all developed at our lightweight centre in Neckarsulm.
"The body is the most important thing. If you lose 150kg there, you get better dynamics, especially through the bends. Our S5 prototype has a four-cylinder engine with 100hp less than the standard V8 but is eight seconds quicker around the Nürburgring."
How else could you save weight?
“We have a vision to reduce vehicle weight through active safety systems. If the car can see when an accident is coming, it can apply the brakes to reduce kinetic energy, reducing the basic weight we need for the structure."
How are you managing the growing electronic
content of vehicles?
“We’ll use FlexRay for the first time in the next A8. It’s necessary to handle the workload we have over the networks in the car. FlexRay manages it much better than the old CANbus system. The next A4 could have it too."
What interior technologies are you working on for
the next A8?
“It will have a more sophisticated human-machine interface. The Audi MMI system is a benchmark. We’ve made it even more intuitive and we’ve optimised the position of the controller.
We’ll have the internet in the car. We’re trying to get Google information into the navigation system such as points of interest in cities."
What is Audi’s approach to research with competitors?
“There will be more projects in areas such as car-to-car communication and accident avoidance because there we’d appreciate a common communication standard all over Europe.
We also have teams working on chassis, powertrain electrification, and emissions controls. And there are meetings with colleagues from BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen and Porsche looking for possible areas we can have a degree of standardisation. But we have to keep the characteristics typical of Audi for us, and not give them to BMW or Mercedes – this is a sensitive area.
Could you give an example of this?
“The ESC system. There is standard software in the system, which can be used by all, and then on top there is Audi software to define our driving dynamics. Ultimately, an Audi must be Audi and a BMW must be a BMW."
How are Europe’s CO2 targets changing R&D at Audi?
“This is a very strong challenge. Our engineers have to keep our vehicles’ defining characteristics but must also make them more efficient.
"At Audi we say that in the morning we are talking about the techniques and in the evening we are talking about the costs. Both must be balanced against quality and time. Each engineer must be an expert in finance.
"We haven’t reorganised development as such, only now every gram of CO2 counts for more than before. We’ve got a cross-functional organisation for CO2; improvements are valued in euros per gram of CO2. We’re optimistic – with the measures we have already taken the Audi fleet will average under 140g/km CO2 in 2012."
Michael Dick, thanks for talking to Automotive Engineer.
© PE Publishing Ltd, 2009