Audi plans plug-in diesel hybrid

COPENHAGEN -- Audi aims to beat its German rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW to launch a plug-in hybrid diesel powered car.

Audi will present a plug-in hybrid diesel drivetrain next year, said the brand's technical development chief, Ulrich Hackenberg.

The drivetrain will use a 3.0-liter V-6 diesel engine and an electric motor. It will be fitted first to Audi's Q line of SUVs and the A8 flagship sedan, Hackenberg said. He was speaking at the sidelines of an event here.

Hackenberg said plug-in hybrid diesels will be sold in the United States as well as Europe.

The first vehicle to be fitted with the technology is likely to be the new Q7, which will go on sale with gasoline and diesel engines next year.  No date was given for the sale of the plug-in version.

The Q7 will be the first model to be built on the VW Group’s new MLB large-car modular architecture.

Mercedes currently sells diesel hybrid versions of its E-class and S-class models, as does Land Rover with versions of its Range Rover and Range Rover Sport SUVs. So far, however, only Volvo has launched a plug-in diesel hybrid, based on its V60 diesel station wagon.

Audi is widely considered by industry watchers to have fallen behind its German rivals on technology following the introduction of BMW’s electric i-brand and Mercedes’ electronic innovations such as the Magic Body Control ride comfort aid.

Hackenberg said the brand’s "decades of lead" in diesel technology was helping it cut CO2 emissions and increase sales. "Diesel will remain one of the core values in Vorsprung durch Technik; we are putting our money in it," he said, referring to Audi's "progress through technology" slogan.

The combination of power and economy in the Audi plug-in diesel would make it popular in the United States, Hackenberg said. "The hybrid will be another argument to go for diesel in the U.S.," he said.

"We have the combination of low CO2 emissions, necessary to meet market demand and regulations, and we have the diesel which gives a lot torque, which is very necessary for drive-ability," he said.

"In the USA if you look to sportiness it is very important to be quick away from the traffic lights. In combination with the electric engine, a diesel hybrid delivers very good torque from the start," he said.

Electric turbocharger

Audi will launch another hi-tech diesel technology in the near-term when it applies an e-booster electric turbocharger to its 3.0-liter V-6 TDI engine in the Q7. This uses an electric compressor to spin up the turbocharger from very low revs to cancel out turbo lag.

"The new Q7 will be in the market next year and the electric turbo will come a little later in a sporty version called SQ7,” Hackenberg said.

Audi is considering a version of the A5 wearing the company’s high-performance RS badge that would be powered by the same e-boosted diesel engine, he said.

Combustion engines and specifically diesel will be key to cutting CO2 emissions in Audi cars, Hackenberg said. "Gasoline technology will not supplant the efficiency of diesel," he said.

Refinement of combustion engines will account for about 50 percent of Audi’s CO2 reduction by 2020. A further 30 percent would be generated by alternative drivetrains with the remaining 20 percent would come from such measures as reducing drag and rolling resistance.

Hybrid cars are still slow sellers in Europe.  Last year 214,237 hybrid cars were sold in the region, with diesel hybrids counting for 37,904 of those sales, according to JATO Dynamics.