In Geneva Audi presented the A3 Sportback g-tron and the e-tron version of the A3. It is the first car of Audi’s new project to become the leader of cars powered by renewable energy.
The A3 Sportback g-tron is now available to order in Germany with a starting price of € 25.900. The engine uses either natural gas or the e-gas, a new fuel that is produced by Audi at its brand-new factory in town Werlte Germany. Audi has become the first automaker to manufacture synthetic fuel ethanol and gasoline.
The synthetic petrol ( ethanol) and the synthetic oil are generated through a complicated process with the use of CO2 of the atmosphere. The process involves large transparent 100 meters tubes filled with water. The tubes are filled simultaneously with genetically modified cyanobacteria.
The result is, that using the sun, the bacteria react with the CO2 and produce what says Audi, e-ethanol (gasoline) and e-diesel. According to the German company, a car that will consume one of the two fuels will emit the same amount of CO2, emitted by a hybrid car.
The Audi A3 Sportback g-tron has two CNG (compressed natural gas) tanks each of 7 kg, with pressure 200 bar, and a total weight of 27 kg. The tanks are made of polyamide polymer on the inside and CFRP and GFRP on the outside, clad with a high strength epoxy resin. The Audi A3 Sportback g-tron has an electronic pressure regulator gas, this reduces the high pressure of the gas flowing in the cylinders from 5 to 9 bar in two stages.
The Audi A3 Sportback g-tron uses CNG and has a range of 400 km and with the use of gasoline the autonomy goes to 1,300 km. The driver can check at any time through two screens, the level of fuel in each of the two tanks and the average consumption.
The engine is a specially designed 1.4 liter TFSI. It features a redesigned cylinder head, redesigned turbine, new sprinkler system and new catalyst. It produces 110 hp and 200 Nm of torque with the 0-100 km/h being achieved in 11 seconds having a top speed of 190 km/h. It has an average fuel consumption of 3.2 to 3.3 kg/100 km of CNG or e-gas and 95 g/km emission of CO2. The car starts using gasoline, and when the temperature raise it automatically turns on the use of natural gas.
The plug-in hybrid version of the Audi A3 combines the 1.4 TFSI producing 150 hp with an electric motor producing 75 kW (102 hp ), which is powered by a 8,8 kWh batery. The engines are combined to a 6 speed S-Tronic gearbox that transfers the power to the front wheels. Overall the car produces 204 hp and 350 Nm torque with the 0-100 km/h coming in 7.6 seconds and the top speed reaching 222 km/hour.
The five-door A3 weighs 1,574 kilos and has an average fuel consumption of just 1.5 litres/100 km, emitting 35 g/km of CO2. It has an autonomy of about 50 kilometres , with a top speed of 130 km/h using only the electric motor. It can run either wity the TFSI engine alone or with both the engines simultaneously.
The overall range is 940 kilometres and the batteries can recharge during braking.At the interior it features the S-Line package and there are several e-tron logos. The luggage space is reduced to 280 liters, because the batteries have taken some space. However by folding the rear seats, the luggage space increases to 1,000 liters.
