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Recharge Wrap-up: Porsche adds third 919 Hybrid for Le Mans, Audi to heat factory with geothermal

Porsche will be running a third 919 Hybrid LMP1 car in the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. The extra Porsche will race in the six-hour May 2 WEC race at Spa-Francorchamps as a lead-up to the legendary 24-hour race on June 13 and 14. Porsche hasn't announced the driver lineup for the third 919 Hybrid, but drivers will remain the same for the other two cars. Including the third car is meant to help further test performance and efficiency as part of development for future hybrid systems. Read more at Green Car Congress. BMW i Ventures is investing in Zendrive, a driving focused data and analytics company. The cooperation of the two companies is meant to help advance safety and efficiency by making the "in-car mobility experience even smoother by optimizing commuting and driving patterns," according to BMW i's Ulrich Quay. The venture capital arm of BMW's i brand also invests in JustPark, Chargepoint, Life360, Chargemaster and MyCityWay, and says it will have more strategic investment announcements in the coming months. Read more in the press release below. The Audi Hungaria factory in Gyor, Hungary will soon be getting geothermal energy from a nearby plant being constructed in Per. When the facility is finished, Audi expects to source 82,000 megawatt hours of geothermal energy per year from it, or about six percent of its total heating needs. The clean energy helps Audi move "step by step along a path to developing a CO2-neutral production plant," says Audi's Dr. Hubert Waltl. "The mobility of the future must be CO2-neutral – and that applies not only to the use of our vehicles, but also to their production." Read more in the press release below. Supporters have begun a petition drive for the passage of an E15 ordinance in Chicago. Despite pushback from oil companies, the city council is close to passing the "Chicago Clean Air Choice Ordinance," which includes the requirement by retailers to sell the 15-percent ethanol gasoline blend in the city. The ordinance includes an exception for stations selling less than 850,000 gallons of fuel per year. More than 4,000 people have signed the petition so far, with others leaving messages to voice their opinion on the matter in opposition to Big Oil's attempt to block it. Read more at Domestic Fuel. BMW i Ventures announces strategic investment in Zendrive. - Further Increasing safety and security through innovative mobility services. New York City, NY.

Production 4.0: Audi plans for the smart factory

Automotive production is becoming more integrated and at the same time has to be more intelligent and more efficient. Flexible production of customized vehicles is one of the big challenges for the future, especially for a premium carmaker like Audi. How will the "Vorsprung durch Technik" brand meet its aim of offering premium quality with added custom flexibility? The company sees the "smart factory" as the key. Whether it's body-color moldings or light-alloy wheels in a special size, almost every car is ordered with some kind of customization, and the demands are increasing. This requires of course already a lot of flexibility. While the variety of models and quality demands are increasing, automotive manufacturers such as Audi are eager to make production sustainable. In an Audi interview, innovation management members Alois Brandt and Henning Loser talk about "production 4.0" and the upcoming "smart factory." How will Audi manage the production site with its very high standards of quality, efficiency, and environmental acceptability? Will the so-called "smart factory," which should be the intelligent factory of the future, only employ robots? Alois Brandt: "With a deep look into the production, I am convinced that our employees and not machines are the relevant working forces behind the Audi brand. Machines can be bought anywhere." Increasing digitalization is paving the way for the smart factory – the intelligent, digitally connected production facility. New high-tech solutions in manufacturing should further increase the high level of quality, while at the same time the assembly work should be easier and result in better ergonomics. Can you give us a clearer imagination of the "smart factory"? Alois Brandt: "There are a lot of ideas. But the big question at the moment is: Which one is really needed and leads into the right direction?" Can you tell us a little bit more about "production 4.0"? Alois Brandt: "The assembly line as we know it in the present will no longer play the same role. If it makes sense, it will be terminated and replaced by – let's call it – a virtual assembly line. The production will be more modular than before and the car will be directed to a production point – a so-called 'island of competence' – where it is needed." Henning Loser: "If the vehicle is to be assembled to the customer's wishes, it is obvious that efficient programming of robots and coordinating with the human workers is needed.

How does a 600-HP Audi RS6 Avant Plus sound to you?

The 2013 Audi RS6 Avant was announced back in December with a twin-turbo V8 cranking out 560 horsepower, but Car is reporting that this badass grocery getter could get even more power with a new Plus model. In a conversation with Car, Stephan Reil, Audi's top guy at its Quattro GmbH division, told the magazine that the RS6 Avant Plus would produce around 600 horsepower, and it sounds like there is a growing family of RS Plus models being planned as well.
Aside from the more powerful engine, the specifics of the RS6 Avant Plus are unknown, but we'd suspect some weight-savings measures and updated features for improved handling. Like recent RS Plus models such as the TT RS Plus and R8 Plus, the RS6 Avant Plus will not be a limited-production unit when it goes on sale (most likely for the 2014 model year).