Advance sales for the Audi A3 Sportback g-tron started in Germany on February 13, with the tri-fuel vehicle starting from €25,900 ($35,418). Powered by a 1.4-liter TFSI engine producing 109 hp (110PS), the A3 G-Tron can run on natural gas, e-gas generated by Audi or gasoline. When running on e-gas, Audi says the G-Tron is entirely CO2 neutral.
That’s because Audi e-gas is a synthetic methane produced at the Audi e-gas facility located in Werlte in Lower Saxony, Germany – the world’s first industrial power-to-gas plant. According to the automaker, the A3 G-Tron fueled by Audi e-gas is currently “the most environmentally friendly form of long-distance mobility”.
Audi’s e-gas is generated using green electricity, which binds as much CO2 as is released when the Audi A3 G-Tron is driven in gas mode. The vehicle consumes between 3.2 and 3.3 kg of gas per 100 km, with current fuel costs being around €3.5 ($4.8) per 100 km.
A3 G-Tron buyers can get e-gas by using a fuel card, with Audi recording the quantities of gas that the customer pays and ensuring that exactly this amount of Audi e-gas is fed into the German natural gas network.
Customers can get the Audi e-gas fuel card for a flat price of €14.95 ($20.44) per month, with the costs for the quantities of gas refueled by each customer being deducted via the fuel card. Audi e-gas is available at over 650 fuel stations in Germany.
By Dan Mihalascu
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