2008 V6 Awd Nav Backup Camera Heated Seats Sunroof Dvd 3rd Row on 2040-cars

Auto blog

1956 DKW Audi electric van beautifully restored

These days, electric vehicles that make commercial deliveries aren't entirely rare. UPS has a small fleet in California, and at least 5,000 Renault Kangoo Z.E. models are in use by France's national postal service. But the history of this concept is much older. In fact, one of the companies represented by Audi's four rings had an example about 60 years ago. Audi Tradition just completed a full restoration of this blue 1956 DKW Elektro-Wagen to add to the company's collection of historic vehicles. It's quite a rare find because only two are still known to exist. Audi estimates that DKW built about 100 of these electric vans between 1955 and 1962, and they were primarily sold to energy companies, public utilities and battery makers. To create the EV model, DKW took its normal Schnellaster delivery van and replaced the model's two-stroke engine with an electric drivetrain. The vans weren't exactly speedy, though. The motor produced about 6.7 horsepower and lead-acid batteries offered 200 amp hours of power running at 80 volts. It gave the Elektro-Wagen a claimed range of about 50 miles and a 25 mile-per-hour top speed. Following the restoration, Audi took van to the island of Wangerooge in the North Sea to show it off. The location is perfect, too, because vehicles with internal combustion engines are banned on the island. If you can read German, feel free to find out more in the press release below. „DKW Elektro-Wagen" zu Audi heimgekehrt Einen von zwei verbliebenen DKW Elektro Schnellaster restauriert Klein-Bus einst auf der Nordseeinsel Wangerooge im Einsatz Audi Tradition prasentiert einen aussergewohnlichen Neuzugang in seiner historischen Sammlung: einen „DKW Elektro-Wagen" von 1956. Zwischen 1955 und 1962 produzierte die Auto Union GmbH in Ingolstadt DKW Schnellaster – etwa 100 davon als Elektro-Automobile, die das Unternehmen vor allem an Energieunternehmen, Stadtwerke oder Batteriehersteller verkaufte. Bei dem nun nach aufwandiger Restauration „heimgekehrten" Elektro-Schnellaster handelt es sich um ein besonderes Exponat: Der DKW fuhr auf der Nordseeinsel Wangerooge, wo Automobile mit Verbrennungsmotoren verboten sind. Normalerweise war der DKW Schnellaster mit einem Zweitaktmotor ausgestattet - der „Elektro-Wagen" hingegen mit einem funf Kilowatt (kw) leistenden Reihenschluss-Motor. Die seitlich in zwei Kasten gelagerten Bleibatterien hatten eine Nennspannung von 80 Volt und eine Kapazitat von 200 Amperestunden (AH).

Audi A7 Sportback H-Tron Quattro packs plug-in hydrogen powertrain

If you think a plug-in diesel hybrid is an expensive proposition, just wait until you hear details about the just-revealed Audi A7 Sportback H-Tron Quattro. The "H" in H-Tron, as you might guess, stands for hydrogen, so say hello to a new concept that combines a plug-in battery system with a hydrogen fuel cell. Yeah, exactly. Let's start with the numbers. On the plug-in side, the new H-Tron has an 8.8-kWh lithium-ion battery that can power the car for up to 31 miles on battery power. With electric motors on both axles – it's a Quattro, after all, but a through-the-road hybrid with electronic torque distribution management – the A7 H-Tron uses a hydrogen fuel cell and four (!) H2 tanks to offer about 62 miles per gallon equivalent. Audi says the overall fuel cell stack efficiency is "as high as 60 percent" while the electric motors operate at 95 percent efficiency. Efficiently turning all of that electricity into movement means the A7 Sportback H-Tron Quattro has a total power output of 398.3 pound-feet of torque. The 4,299-pound concept can allegedly go from 0-62 miles per hour in 7.9 seconds and has a top speed of 112 mph. The car's total range is 311 miles. The A7 H-Tron is not the first plug-in hydrogen vehicle concept. That title goes to the Ford HySeries Edge. Mazda also considered putting a hydrogen range extender in the Mazda5 plug-in van. The Audi A7 Sportback h-tron quattro It sprints from 0 to 100 km/h (62.1 mi) in 7.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 180 km/h (111.8 mph). It covers over 500 kilometers (310.7 mi) on one tank of fuel – and its exhaust emits nothing more than a few drops of water: The A7 Sportback h-tron quattro, which Audi is unveiling at the Los Angeles Auto Show 2014, uses a powerful, sporty electric drive with a fuel cell as its energy source that operates in combination with a hybrid battery and an additional electric motor in the rear. The overall electrical system power of 170 kW is transferred to both the front and the rear wheels. This drive configuration makes the emission-free Audi A7 Sportback* a quattro through and through – a new departure in fuel cell cars. "The A7 Sportback h-tron quattro is a genuine Audi – at once sporty and efficient. Conceived as an e-quattro, its two electric motors drive all four wheels," explained Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Board of Management for Technical Development at Audi. "The h-tron concept car shows that we have mastered fuel cell technology.

VW CEO talks up 20 new plug-in models in Frankfurt

For years now, Volkswagen has dreamed big, forming plans to become the world's largest automaker. That trajectory includes a big plug-in vehicle push, and the CEO of Volkswagen, Martin Winterkorn, said that his group of companies will bring out 20 more EVs and plug-in hybrids by 2020. The list includes the next Phaeton and the Audi A8. "No commitment to electro-mobility can be any clearer than that," Winterkorn said, according to a VW press release. "Our Group already has the largest connected vehicle fleet on the road. By 2020 we will have transformed all of our new cars into smartphones on wheels." Perhaps most illustrative, Winterkorn admitted that the auto industry has turned a corner. "Technological leadership is no longer solely defined in terms of horsepower and torque," he said. "We are taking the precision, enduring value and quality of our cars into the new, digital world." The VW group is also showing off new plug-in concepts in Frankfurt this week, like the Tiguan GTE and the Porsche Mission E. Winterkorn's prepared remarks do not give out the details of these vehicles, but we'll have all the info from the show floor in short order. Stay tuned. PROF. DR. MARTIN WINTERKORN: "THE REINVENTION OF VOLKSWAGEN" 14/09/15 from Volkswagen Group 20 more electric cars and plug-in hybrids by 2020 announced Group not only has broadest electric fleet, but also largest connected vehicle fleet on the road Customers should benefit from automated driving technologies as quickly as possible Volkswagen taking precision, enduring value and quality of its cars into the digital world Wolfsburg/Frankfurt am Main, September 14, 2015 – In the Volkswagen Group, there is a sense that a new era is dawning. On the eve of the 66th International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt am Main the CEO of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, said on Monday evening: "We are in the process of reinventing Europe's largest automaker, laying the technological, economic and structural foundations." The Group Chairman announced there would be 20 more electric cars and plug-in hybrids by 2020 – from compact cars to the next Phaeton and Audi A8: "No commitment to electro-mobility can be any clearer than that." He said the Group already had the broadest electric fleet in the automobile world, and added that Volkswagen was also at the forefront when it came to the future-oriented field of digitisation: "Our Group already has the largest connected vehicle fleet on the road.