Audi Plans To Electrify The 2022 Dakar Rally
The Dakar Rally is one of the most challenging automotive events on the planet. Originally run in Europe and Africa, the event is now run in different places around the world. Audi, part of the Volkswagen Group, is planning on entering the 2022 rally with an electric drivetrain.
Audi has been out of the rally world for a while, focusing on other motorsports, but they have a long history in that kind of racing. Volkswagen had long experience with four wheel drive, starting with military vehicles. In 1981, Audi’s quattro technology revolutionized the sport. By having four wheel drive at all times, but with a locking differential that distributes power between front and rear axles, it proved to be a competitive advantage. Today, all rally cars are set up to be all wheel drive, no matter who builds them.
For the last several years, Audi has been focusing on other things, like Formula E. “Formula E has accompanied the transformation phase at Audi,” says Markus Duesmann, Chairman of the Board of Management. “Today, electromobility at the four rings is no longer a dream of the future, but the present.”
The company has been doing good at it, too. One of its teams was the most successful, with 43 podium finishes, including 12 victories. On the other hand, the company wanted to get back to its roots and give their engineers something more challenging. Replacing its Formula E involvement with the Dakar rally in 2022 made a lot of sense (they’ll still be doing Formula E until then).
“We want to continue demonstrating the brand’s slogan ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ in international top-level motorsport in the future and develop innovative technologies for our road cars. The toughest rally in the world is the perfect stage for this.” said Duesmann.
They’re sticking with electric, but the Dakar rally usually goes places where there are not only no charging stations, but no electricity at all. Originally, the rally started in Paris, ran down through Europe, crossed the Mediterranean (by ferry), and then cut across the most remote parts of Saharan Africa, finishing in Dakar, Senegal. In 2008, the rally had to be cancelled due to security concerns, and in subsequent years moved to an equally remote route in South America. This year, it was in Saudi Arabia, also in places that are almost literally the middle of nowhere.
Audi does want to test as much of an electric vehicle as possible, so it went with a series hybrid. Like BEVs, the wheels are driven only by electric motors, which only get power from a battery pack. The only difference from a BEV in this case is that it will have a range extender driven by an efficient Audi TFSI combustion engine.
“The aim is to permanently improve the performance of the electric drivetrain and the battery in the years to come. The experience gained in this process should then be incorporated into the further development of future electrified production models.” the company said in a press release.
So, while it’s not a true BEV (which would be quite impossible to run in the Dakar rally with current battery technology), the team is going to use its experience testing BEV components in these grueling conditions and apply what they learn to future Audi and other Volkswagen models.
I know some readers will still feel disappointed, but we have to keep in mind that this will be the first time anybody has tried any kind of alternative drivetrain in the Dakar rally. Given their past experience adding electric to racing, the company is probably the most likely to achieve it. In 2012, they achieved the first victory at the 24 Hours of LeMans with a hybrid, and the vehicle remained unbeaten three times in a row.
The entry into Dakar shouldn’t be seen as a total retreat from other motorsports, and they intend to push electrification elsewhere as well.
“In addition, we are evaluating other possible fields of activity for us in international motorsport,” says Julius Seebach, Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH. “In doing so, we have our customers’ wishes in mind as much as the company’s future strategy, which is clearly focused on electrification and carbon-neutral mobility. This is why we are intensively preparing to enter the new sports prototype category LMDh with its highlight races, the Daytona 24 Hours and Le Mans 24 Hours. The most important message for our fans is that motorsport will continue to play an important role at Audi.”
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Latest CleanTechnica.TV Video
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
