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Munich’s electricity supply is about to
spark 20 road-ready Audi A1 e-trons into life on the German city’s
streets as part of an exciting pilot project undertaken by Audi AG in
partnership with E.ON, the Munich municipal utility company Stadtwerke
München (SWM) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM).
All 20 examples of the innovative
battery-powered ‘Mega City vehicle’ (MCV) will be operational by
mid-2011 as participants in the "eflott" project, which forms part of
the "Model Region Electromobility Munich" initiative sponsored by the
German Federal Ministry of Transport. ‘Fuelled’ by 200 newly installed
charging stations, they will enable experts to address a number of
issues, from the data transfer between the driver, vehicle and electric
filling station to the power grid and the use of smartphones as the
central interface for the driver.
Delivering an output equivalent to
102PS, the lithium-ion battery mounted within the floor assembly in
front of the rear axle of the A1 e-tron powers it to a top speed of
81mph and gives it a range of more than 31 miles in city traffic. From
start up it is classified as a zero emissions vehicle over this
distance. A compact internal combustion engine recharges the battery
when its energy is depleted.
A small, single-rotor Wankel engine in
this near-series production vehicle increases the range in exceptional
circumstances. This “range extender” powers a generator that produces 15
kW of charging power. If the range extender is used to recharge the
battery, the A1 e-tron can cover an additional 124 miles. According to a
draft standard for the calculation of fuel consumption for range
extender vehicles, this represents a fuel economy figure of 148.7mpg,
equating to a CO2 output of only 45 g/km.
E.ON and SWM are installing the
necessary charging infrastructure; E.ON primarily in the outlying areas
and SWM in the Bavarian state capital. The two utility companies are
initially installing a total of 100 “electric filling stations” each as
part of a variety of projects. All of the charging stations are supplied
with electricity generated from renewable energies.
The Technical University of Munich is
responsible for comprehensive data collection and evaluation of mobility
behaviour. Its experts will monitor how heavily and in which situations
the electric car being used, and what influence this option has on the
use of other means of transportation.
To answer these questions, the
Department of Vehicle Engineering has developed a mobile application
that will be provided on a smartphone to all participants of the fleet
trial. The device will thoroughly document their mobility behaviour –
from their use of bicycles to the electric cars and from conventional
cars to buses and trains. To ensure that the participants always use the
smartphone, the Department of Ergonomics made sure that the application
features an easy-to-use design that encourages use over the long-term.
At the same time, the Department of Marketing is conducting a study to
discover which billing models for the electricity used for e-mobility
meet with the greatest acceptance.
The fleet trial is being supported by
the German Federal Ministry of Transport as part of a publically-funded
project. Federal Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer comments:
“Electromobility is not an abstract technology issue. At its core is the
question of how the transportation systems of the future should look. We
are therefore funding electromobility under real-world conditions in our
model regions – a large field test, so to speak. Projects like these
provide us with important insight into how to make electromobility a
success, both in the city and in rural areas. In the Munich model
region, we are providing approximately €10 million in funding for
electromobility. This money is a smart investment in the future. Our
goal is clear: We want to make Germany the lead market for
electromobility and put at least one million electric vehicles on German
roads by 2020.”
“Audi is working hard on the future of
mobility. “We are trying to find a concept that requires no
compromises,” says Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management
of AUDI AG, who continues, “Electromobility means more to us than just
electrifying conventional cars. Instead we are dedicated to a holistic
approach to all aspects of the topic. We hope that this fleet trial will
enable us to gain broad insights into the behaviour but also the
expectations of our customers regarding their dealings with electric
cars. Of course, the data that we will collect are another aspect. This
market and technology feedback will enable us to further expand our
expertise in electrification.
Klaus-Dieter Maubach, Member of the
Board of Management of E.ON AG, Technology, adds, “In this project, we
are shifting the locations of our electric filling stations to existing
parking lots as was suggested by our knowledge of user behaviour. We are
equipping private garages or parking garages, for example, with charging
stations. We hope that this will allow us to further develop the
technology of the charging points and the communication with the grid
operator, in particular, and thus secure our leadership role in the
development of electric filling stations. Intelligent charging points
are more than just electric filling stations. They are the prerequisite
for using vehicle batteries as intermediate storage for renewable
energies in the intelligent power grids of the future.”
As an operator of subways and trams,
SWM has decades of experience with electric mobility in short-range
public transport. The expansion of the charging infrastructure marks
their entry to the field of sustainable individual mobility. “The SWM
charging stations will 'pump' nothing but our green electricity," says
Dr. Florian Bieberbach, Commercial Director of SWM, reducing the
vehicles’ CO2 emissions to zero. Our efforts to expand
renewable energies are providing the foundations that allow us to do
this. By 2025, we hope to generate enough green electricity in our own
plants to meet the electricity needs of the entire population of Munich
– including the requirements of electric vehicles. This would make
Munich the first city of over one million inhabitants to achieve this
ambitious goal.”
“For researchers, it is no longer a
question of whether electric mobility will be able to establish itself,
but rather of when. Electromobility means a paradigm shift for industry
and society, making it a central strategic focus of the TUM,” says
Professor Wolfgang A. Hermann, President of the Technical University of
Munich. “The Science Center for Electromobility at TUM pools the
expertise of 42 departments from eight schools, which are working hard
to contribute to the development of sustainable individual mobility.”
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