The first examples of Audi’s A1 e-tron gasoline-electric hybrid project car hit the streets of Munich today as the German company in cooperation with E.ON and the public utility Stadtwerke Munchen and Technise Universitat Muncher initiated the trial program.
Audi has provided a fleet of 20 extended-range A1 e-tron electric vehicles, while E.ON and SWM have installed charging infrastructure both within the city limits and in surrounding areas.
The project is part of the pilot program called “Electric Mobility in Munich” and which is sponsored by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development. The Ministry is investing €10 million (US$14 million) in order to investigate a number of issues concerning electric mobility such as the power grid and the use of mobile devices, like smartphones, for vehicle-to-vehicle communication.
“In this era of electric mobility, we will offer our customers a wide range of services which go beyond driving itself, like for example the networking of vehicles with their surroundings and infrastructure”, said Audi’s head of Electric Mobility Strategy. “We want to use this trial fleet to learn more about our customers’ usage of electric cars and their expectations. We are planning additional fleet endeavors in strategically important markets.”
Audi’s four-seater A1 e-tron is based on the A1 3-door compact hatch and features a 102HP (75 kW) electric motor powered by a lithium-ion battery pack. Its driving range in all-electric zero-emissions mode is 50 km (31 miles).
When the battery runs out of juice, a compact Wankel one-rotor engine with a capacity of just 254 cc (0.25-liters) kicks in and recharges it. The rotary engine consumes 1.9 lt/100 km (123.8 US mpg), emits just 45 gr of CO2 per mile and extends the range to 200 km (125 miles).
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