Audi is taking its electrified powertrain know-how to a single of the most grueling races on the world. It will compete in the 2022 version of the Dakar Rally with an experimental gasoline-electrical hybrid off-roader named RS Q E-Tron.
Whilst many versions in the German firm’s line-up put on the E-Tron label, the Dakar-certain RS Q is a goal-designed prototype which is not in any way related to a production model. It was designed for racing from the ground up in about a 12 months, and it is really a way to check many intelligent features that could trickle down to potential versions later on on.
Audi selected a hybrid drivetrain rather of likely all-electrical due to the fact Dakar phases can be up to 500 miles extended prior to detours and other unpredicted activities are factored in. Obtaining a charging station in the Saudi Arabian desert is less complicated stated than carried out, and ready for an electrical automobile to charge just isn’t best in a race wherever every single break up next is important. The program depends on a TFSI engine sourced from the firm’s now-shuttered DTM touring automobile plan and set up to charge the 50-kilowatt-hour battery pack on-the-go. It operates among 4,500 and 6,000 rpm.
From there, the electrical power reaches the 4 wheels by way of a pair of electrical motors (a single for each axle) borrowed from the automobile Audi races with in Method E, a set up that provides the RS Q E-Tron a by way of-the-street model of the famed Quattro all-wheel-drive program. Small modifications were being designed to each and every motor to prepare them for the trials of Dakar. Last but not least, there is certainly a 3rd motor set up as part of the strength converter program it aids charge the battery pack as perfectly.
The system’s full output checks in at 670 horsepower, nevertheless it is really unclear how a great deal of this reserve the automobile will be permitted to tap into in the course of the race. Restrictions is not going to be finalized until finally later on in 2021. In the meantime, Audi will go on testing the RS Q E-Tron on off-street tracks and in cross-region rallies to make any and all adjustments prior to the 2022 Dakar, which starts on January 2 in Ha’il, Saudi Arabia, and ends in Jeddah twelve days later on. Dakar legends Stephane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz will drive the two prototypes Audi will enter in the party.
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