Like everything “Volkswagen” group, “Audi“is pursuing a vision of carbon-neutral mobility and achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The emphasis is on the electric car, but Audi is also increasing the environmental sustainability of its internal combustion engines. The company has approved the use of several of its current six-cylinder diesel engines with renewable fuels. – hydrogenated vegetable oil or HVO.
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“With our Vorsprung 2030 strategy, we are aiming for a clear goal that all our new models will be electric from 2026. In this way, we are making an important contribution to carbon-neutral mobility,” says Oliver, Audi’s Chief Technology Officer. Hofmans.
“At the same time, we are optimizing our current portfolio of internal combustion engines to achieve greater efficiency and lower emissions. One way we do this is to create the necessary technical basis for the use of sustainable fuels such as HVO,” says Hofman.
Renewable fuels make it possible to run internal combustion engines in a much more environmentally friendly way. In addition, this fuel provides an effective means of defossilizing both in the short term and after 2033, when the last Audi with an internal combustion engine will come off the assembly line in Europe.
Audi models with 286 hp V6 diesel engines, which will leave the company’s plants from mid-February, can be refueled with HVO fuel in accordance with European standard NE 15940.
Hydrogenated vegetable oil is a sustainable fuel that has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by around 70-95% compared to fossil diesel. Another advantage of HVO is its significantly higher cetane number, which provides more efficient and cleaner combustion compared to conventional diesel.
“Because HVO’s cetane number is about 30% higher, engine combustion is improved. The positive effects of this fact are most noticeable when starting a cold engine. We tested these effects on various components, performance and exhaust before granting approval,” explains Audi. “Matthias Schober, Development Manager of V-TFSI, TDI and PHEV Drive Systems.
Priority was given to the most popular engine variants in order to enable as many customers as possible to use renewable fuels.
Use of bio-waste and waste materials in the production of HVO
The production of HVO uses surplus and waste materials, such as used cooking oil from the food industry or agricultural waste. By adding hydrogen (in the hydrogenation process), the oils are converted to aliphatic hydrocarbons. This changes the properties of the vegetable oil to make it suitable for use in diesel engines. They can be added to conventional diesel as a substitute for fossil fuels, or used unmixed as 100% pure fuel.
HVO is a so-called BTL (biomass to liquid) fuel. In addition to BTL, there are other production methods for synthetic diesel, such as GTL (gas to liquidation) and RIP (energy to liquid).
RIP can be obtained in a sustainable way from renewable electricity, water and CO2 in the atmosphere. The term XTL (conversion of X to liquid) is used as a collective noun for these fuels, which are regulated by EN 15940, where “X” stands for the original component. Refueling pumps containing these fuels are appropriately identified by this symbol. Approved Audi models have an “XTL” label on the fuel cap.
HVO approval for several models
All V6 diesel engines up to 286 hp, including the “A4”, “A5”, “A6”, “A7”, “A8”, “Q7” and “Q8” series produced from mid-February 2022, can be refueled with HVO fuel. The HVO refueling option “Q5” will be available from the beginning of March, but in the summer the A6 allroad with an engine power of up to 245 hp will join this range.
In addition, HVO has been approved in Europe for the Audi A3, Q2 and Q3 four-cylinder diesel engines, which have been in production since June 2021. In the A4, A5, A6, A7 and Q5 models, which are built on a modular longitudinal platform, the R4 TDI engines have been able to run on HVO fuel in Sweden, Denmark and Italy since mid-last year, as the market in these countries demand has been highest so far.
HVO diesel is already available at more than 600 service stations in Europe, most of them in Scandinavia, where environmental requirements are particularly stringent. Also in Latvia, diesel fuel produced from 100% renewable resources is available at some gas stations.
Compatibility of internal combustion engines with renewable fuels
Through various pilot projects, such as the Vertles gas-fired power plant, Audi has gained valuable insight into the production of sustainable fuels for use throughout the VW Group.
This experience is also an important basis for developing concepts for a comprehensive sustainable energy system. The VW Group works with mineral oil manufacturers and other energy suppliers and provides its technical expertise to ensure the compatibility of existing engines with renewable fuels.
In the future, Audi and the entire VW Group also plan to approve the use of other internal combustion engines with renewable synthetic fuels, thus making a valuable contribution to the promotion of defossilization.
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