06-16 FastNews.indd - Automobile Association of Singapore

HIGHWAY 14 FAST NEWS
All charged up
Audi’s Martin Freudenhagen is all fired up about
the automaker’s very green (and electric) future
Going green has been pretty much the
automotive industry’s buzzwords of late.
Just about every automaker worth talking
about has taken steps toward cleaning up
their collective acts — literally.
This can take many forms, from
extensively tweaking petrol or diesel
internal combustion engines for greater
efficiency (and therefore lower emissions),
to hybrid drivetrains and of course, fully
electric vehicles.
While the Japanese — Honda and
Toyota, in particular — are going down the
hybrid route, the German automakers have
set their sights on diesel-engined vehicles
for now.
However, cars like that are not really
feasible here, due to the extremely high
road tax figures for private diesel vehicles.
So, what next then for Singapore if we want
to go green?
Those questions were answered by
Martin Freudenhagen, head of project
management for electric vehicles at Audi
during Singapore’s International Energy
Week and Clean Energy Expo Asia.
AUDI HYBRIDS GASSING UP
In the short-term, Audi has plans for hybrids
and intends to put them on the roads soon.
A hybrid variant of the A8 limousine
could be seen as early as this year
and, according to the Ingolstadt-based
automaker, the recently announced A6
large sedan will also see a hybrid version.
However, Freudenhagen said the hybrid
rollout is just a stop gap measure and
there are long-term goals towards being a
manufacturer of premium electric vehicles
(EVs), expected around 2020.
Next up for the automaker is an
extended-range EV, the A1 E-tron, set to
make its debut in 2013. This is essentially
an advanced sort of hybrid that comes with
a small capacity 245cc petrol engine that
powers a generator to charge the batteries,
which in turn drive the wheels.
Like a regular electric vehicle, it can also
Martin Freudenhagen, head of project
management for electric vehicles at Audi
Audi A1 E-tron

e charged via a conventional household
electrical wall socket. Think of the internal
combustion engine as a sort of backup,
allowing the A1 E-tron to be driven without
the charge anxieties normally associated
with EVs.
WILL EVERYTHING BE
LIKE THIS IN THE FUTURE?
It will be, but not in the near future, at least.
This is due to the lack of infrastructure
(charging stations and the like); whether
the automaker or governments should
make a move first; and concerns about the
vehicles (regarding range and so on), said
Freudenhagen.
In the meantime, he thinks diesels —
not hybrids — are the way to go, and cites
the example of the Audi A3 TDI, the reigning
Green Car of the Year. The A3 enjoys a 10
per cent improvement in efficiency over
regular petrol engines, versus hybrids that
offer a seven to nine per cent improvement.
More significantly, Freudenhagen
confirmed that “E-tron” will be a complete
sub-brand for Audi, and will produce
performance EVs that are faithful to Audi’s
sporting DNA.
The name “E-tron” already refers to an
R8-like supercar (above) with a 0-100km/h
time of just 4.8 seconds and a 248km range.
It is a potential rival to other electric sports
Audi E-tron
cars currently on the market, such as the
Lotus Elise-based Tesla.
We say potential because, while the
Internet rumour mill is rife with speculation
on whether Audi will put the car into
production, there has been no official
confirmation from the automaker.

Sport on!
BMW’s 6 Series
gets a scheduled
second quarter
2011 debut
HIGHWAY 16 FAST NEWS
BMW will debut its new two-door 6 Series
in the second quarter of 2011 in Singapore.
Production on its main production line
has already started in Dingolfi ng, Germany,
and the 6 Series will be manufactured
alongside the 5 big sedan and 7 Series
limousine — both of which the 6 Series
shares common basic architecture with.
The folding fabric roof will be a first for
the 6 Series cabriolet. (The coupe will follow
in the fourth quarter, although no official
photographs of it have been released, as
the car is in the design concept stages.)
Its basic form takes cues from the rest
of BMW’s lineup. For instance, there’s a
prominent oversized and upright double
kidney grille. The rest of its design is
inspired by boats moving through water.
It will handle like a boat too, or at least
in terms of how a speedboat accelerates.
Engine options available at its launch will
include a 320bhp 3.0-litre six-cylinder and a
407bhp 4.4-litre V8. Both powerplants will
be turbocharged and will be linked to eightspeed
automatic transmissions.
Naturally, the car will come with an
optional active body roll control system
to keep things fl at and pointed through
corners. It will also inherit the clever four
wheel-steering system first seen on the 7,
then 5 Series. At low speeds, it works to
decrease the car’s turning radius and at
higher speeds, allows for more deft turn-in.
Other innovations include a full-colour
heads-up display with three-dimensional
graphics, a first for BMW’s cars.
Honda’s hybrid hatchback takes on Toyota’s Prius
One of the first commercially-available
hybrid vehicles on the modern market was
the first-generation Honda Insight back in
1999. Most people know the Prius, thanks
to its fame as the world’s best-selling
hybrid car.
Now however, the Insight has a bigger
hill to climb, as the Prius is currently Japan’s
most popular car in terms of monthly sales.
Honda’s strategy with the Insight is to offer
a cheaper package overall, even if it doesn’t
perform as well in terms of fuel economy.
Honda is also trumping up the fact that it’s
been tuned for drivability too.
The Insight features the same
“Integrated Motor Assist” hybrid system as
the Civic hybrid (which is being phased out,
coincidentally), but that system is now in its
fifth iteration and, Honda claims, is smaller
and lighter, and even better at fuel-saving
than before. The system is a parallel hybrid,
meaning the engine cannot be totally
disconnected. Neither can it run entirely on
electric power.
It consists of a 1.3-litre inline fourcylinder
engine with 88bhp mated to
a 16bhp, 78Nm electric motor, both
driven through a continuously-variable
transmission.
Fuel efficiency is quoted as 21.7km/L,
compared to 25.6km/L for the Prius. The
battery pack is a nickel metal-hydride pack
located beneath the boot and in between
the wheels. 0-100km/h should take around
12 seconds, with a maximum speed of
about 180km/h.
A major new feature of the Insight is
the “Eco Assist” mode. Unlike regular “eco”
buttons, the changes it enforces to minimise
fuel consumption are not limited to the
drivetrain. Not only is total system output
limited, but the system also smoothens out
the CVT shift pattern, as well as the throttle
inputs, thanks to drive-by-wire tech. The
air-conditioning pattern is also modified, as
is the Start-Stop function.
The Insight’s trump card is pricing,
though. At last count, it retails for $116,900
with COE, compared with the higher-priced
Prius at $139,488 with COE. Bookings for the
Insight are being collected by official dealer
Kah Motors, with the offi cial launch and
first deliveries in January.