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Audi Sport is trying something new in 2022 with an attempt at the Dakar Rally using this wild-looking creation.
Audi Sport
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This is the Audi RS Q e-tron and it is a production hybrid that combines elements of Audi’s DTM racing car and Audi’s Formula E car.
Audi Sport
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Two Formula E engines drive the wheels, and a third is connected to a 2.0L four-cylinder turbo from the DTM car. These two charge the battery while the RS Q e-tron is in motion.
Audi Sport
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Audi Sport has recruited Mattias Ekström as one of its drivers.
Audi Sport
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The RS Q e-tron was designed to be easy to work with, since the Dakar takes place in remote places with little assistance.
Audi Sport
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Testing began in early July and will continue until 2021.
Audi Sport
Audi’s DTM program – think of the German equivalent of NASCAR – ended in late 2020, and 2021 is the German automaker’s final year in Formula E. But the investment Audi Sport has made in these two programs will not be wasted, as aspects of each combine to propel an outrageous-looking machine designed to participate in the Dakar rally. Unveiled online today, the car is called the Audi RS Q e-tron, and Audi says campaigning in one of the world’s toughest off-road races will allow the company to test and to develop its electric powertrains “under extreme conditions”.
Although Audi’s racing exploits have mostly taken place on the edge of racing tracks over the past decades, the brand has a strong connection to rallying; it used the World Rally Championship in the 1980s to demonstrate its quattro all-wheel drive technology. They can both involve rallying, but Dakar is a more difficult challenge than the WRC, as it is contested over two weeks in remote locations, with distances of 500 miles (800 km) per day.
“It’s a very long distance,” says Andreas Roos, Dakar project manager at Audi Sport. “What we are trying to do has never been done before. This is the ultimate challenge for an electric transmission.”
The nature of the Dakar precluded a purely electric battery-powered approach, although such a thing had been attempted in the past. Instead, Audi Sport took a series hybrid approach – and yes, fans of series hybrids, we think this one passes the purity test.
Three Formula E MGUs and a DTM engine enter a bar …
The tubular-framed RS Q e-tron uses a pair of 250 kW (335 hp) electric motors / generators (MGUs) from Audi Sport’s current Formula E program, one mounted on each axle. These are powered by a 52 kWh (usable) lithium-ion battery that may have been borrowed from an Audi e-tron FE07 Formula E car. The total power is 500 kW (670 hp).
Then there’s a third Formula E MGU, which is part of the power converter that charges the battery while the RS Q e-tron is in motion. (The two propellant MGUs will also regenerate energy under braking.) The other component of the energy converter is a 2.0L TSFI engine from Audi Sport’s DTM car, which is connected to this third MGU by a tree. You might not expect a very tight racing engine to work well as a generator, but Audi Sport claims that the engine is actually very efficient when in the right rev range.
“We reduced the power from 450 to around 200 kW. It operates in the narrow optimized rev range of 4,500 to 6,000, instead of 9,000 rpm,” said Stefan Dreyer, project development manager motorsport at Audi Sport. “The engine needs to run as efficiently as possible in hot and cold weather and at altitude. We optimized the pistons, injectors and turbocharger for this and spent a lot of time on the test bench. We pride ourselves on the specific consumption which is well below 200 grams per kWh.
“The transmission is extremely efficient. There is virtually no loss of power. You shouldn’t expect temperature issues when driving slowly in the sand. Most importantly, the electric transmission is much easier to control in the sand. all cases. situations, “said Dreyer.” Maximum torque is available from zero revs. You can regulate the drivetrain very precisely, whether the car is going through jumps or driving in the desert. The electric drivetrain does not respond to outside influences like air pressure, temperature and humidity. And you can use it at full power throughout the rally. It’s much more consistent than with a combustion engine.
The RS Q e-tron will also be recharged every night. Although Audi Sport has yet to showcase the charging solution, it says it plans to use as much clean energy as possible. And the car was designed to be very easy to maintain by a small support team.
The RS Q e-tron prototype got drunk for the first time in early July and is currently undergoing an extensive testing program for the rest of the year, ahead of the 2022 Dakar rally, which will take place in Arabia Arabia next January.
Audi Sport will enter three RS Q e-trons managed by Q Motorsport. One car will be shared by Mattias Ekström (who won the DTM and Rallycross championships for Audi) and Emil Bergkvist, one by the 14-time Dakar winners Stéphane Peterhansel and Edouard Boulanger, and the third by Carlos Sainz (double WRC champion as well as three – Dakar winner time) and Lucas Cruz.
List image by Audi Sport
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