2015 Audi Q5 2.0t Quattro Premium Plus on 2040-cars

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Recharge Wrap-up: Air Liquide buys Airgas, Audi automated parking in Boston

Air Liquide will buy US competitor Airgas for $13.4 billion. The Paris-based industrial gases company — also a major producer of hydrogen gas — will pay $143 per share in the acquisition of Airgas. The deal could help Air Liquide surpass German rival Linde as the world's top industrial gases company. "The US is a very attractive gas market, it's the largest industrial gas market worldwide," says Air Liquide CEO Benoit Potier. "It's the fastest growing market among advanced economies." Read more from Bloomberg. The US Department of Energy (DOE) will announce a new funding opportunity for hydrogen and fuel cell technology. Expected to be worth up to $35 million, the funding will focus particularly on the research, development and demonstration of technology for light duty passenger vehicles with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and petroleum consumption. This includes hydrogen production, delivery and storage, as well as fuel cell technologies, manufacturing and analysis. The DOE expects to issue the Funding Opportunity Announcement around December 10. Read more at Green Car Congress. Audi will bring network infrastructure and automated parking to the Boston area. In an agreement with the city of Somerville, Massachusetts, Audi will work to improve traffic flow and increase the efficiency of space used for parking. As the city continues to develop, Audi's automated parking project will help decrease the amount of land needed to park cars, and the extra space can be used for more important real estate. Also, an intelligent traffic management project connecting cars to traffic lights can help reduce congestion. Read more in the press release below. Audi brings automated parking to the Boston area November 17, 2015 | INGOLSTADT/BARCELONA • Memorandum of Understanding between Audi and the US city of Somerville • Urban innovations – networking with traffic lights and automated parking • Real-estate developers save space and money thanks to self-parking cars Audi and the city of Somerville, Massachusetts, are planning joint innovations for the city of the future on the east coast of the USA. Audi CEO Rupert Stadler and Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the context of the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona. They agreed to develop an urban strategy for Somerville, applying technologies for swarm intelligence or automated parking, and networking cars with traffic lights.

VW recalls 220,000 Atlases, Atlas Cross Sports for airbag defect [Updated]

[Update: Audi of America has confirmed that no U.S. models are among the recall population for plug-in hybrid fire issue.] Volkswagen has issued yet another recall for its Atlas SUV, this time for side airbags that may not deploy correctly in an accident due to a problematic connection in one of the vehicle's wiring harnesses. The campaign covers 222,892 Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport models built for the 2019-2023 model years.  The issue stems from a connection with the wiring harness that runs from the A-pillar into the door. VW says that harnesses produced by one of its suppliers were not built with additional measures to prevent movement at the connection point. Small movements can cause abrasion of the metal contacts which could lead to a whole host of electronic misadventures, including the potential for airbag deployment to be delayed in a crash.  "Micro-movement of the wire harness (terminal A-Pillar to front door) can result in damage to the wire terminal surface. Damage to the surface can [result] in fretting corrosion which may cause sporadic interruption in the electrical connection to the components of the front door," VW said in its defect notice. "The airbag warning light may illuminate if a malfunction is detected. Other symptoms of a sporadic interruption of the affected electrical connection can be: inadvertent rolling down windows, inadvertent park brake engagement at low speeds (below approx. 3km/h or 1.8mph), warning regarding faulty door sensor," VW said.  Not every model built within the range defined above is subject to the recall; terminals from other suppliers were manufactured with the necessary safeguards in place. If you own a 2019-2023 Atlas or Atlas Cross Sport, keep your eyes peeled for a notification from VW regarding the campaign, likely some time in early-mid May.  PHEV problems Across the Atlantic, the VW Group mothership confirmed that it will recall more than 100,000 plug-in hybrid models worldwide to address a fire risk. The recall was launched in response to 16 reported incidents of fires stemming from insufficient insulation of the PHEV battery pack that allows the engine cover to make contact if it is not completely secure. If that happens, the heat from the battery can ignite the engine cover. The recall will cover PHEVs build by VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda, Reuters reports, including the VW Passat, Golf, Tiguan and Arteon — plug-in variants of which are not sold in the United States.

The 2017 Audi A6 is the great luxury sedan we forgot about

The current Audi A6 is getting old. This generation was first sold as a 2012, got a mild facelift for 2016, and is likely to be replaced for 2018 or 2019. So 2017 may be its last year, but it's still my favorite mid-size Germano luxury thing. I just had to be reminded of its existence. BMW and Mercedes-Benz have been making big noises in this segment recently, with a new 5 Series on the way and the recently launched E-Class, and that apparently distracted me enough from the A6. There's also the fact the Audi is starting to look a bit anonymous on the road. It's still handsome, sure, but it doesn't stand out like the related A7. The 2016 refresh did just enough to keep it looking contemporary, though, and for 2017 all A6s come standard with the S Line appearance package. That helps. What struck me about the A6 was that it doesn't feel dated inside. Everything is laid out nicely, it's just comfortable, and you can see out of it. The one I drove had the beautiful layered walnut trim – it looks like pin-striped wood. (And no, it wasn't painted this bright blue, although you can get that on a special-order car if you pay $3,900 for Exclusive paint.) There are no huge screens inside, and the A6 won't get Audi's Virtual Cockpit until the next generation, but I didn't miss any of that. All of the excitement of Virtual Cockpit's beautiful reconfigurable screens, and I had forgotten that the display between the gauges it replaces had a perfectly pleasant Google Maps view already. It's the same basic functionality as Virtual Cockpit here, you just can't press a button to minimize the real-life gauges. And I'm fine having actual gauges. I was somewhat surprised, however, to see Apple CarPlay pop up when I plugged in my phone. (It's included for 2017 as part of the Audi smartphone interface, which comes with the Premium Plus trim and above.) Using CarPlay is a bit weird without a touchscreen, just like it is on other Audis and Mercedes products, but the nice thing about CarPlay is that you really don't need to interact with it much, since there isn't much to interact with. Oddly, the touchpad on the center console doesn't work to navigate from CarPlay tile to tile. I got over that pretty quickly and just turned the dial when necessary. There's also a feeling that nothing's missing when you drive it, that Audi couldn't really add much to improve the experience. The car is incredibly smooth and comfortable going down the road.